When Time Stops
by Bam-There You Go
Summary: Kakashi is hit by a strange jutsu when he runs into a group of mysterious ninja with Naruto. Now, Naruto is caring for his -much younger- sensei as they battle through the strange effects of the jutsu and Kakashi's old life as it comes back to haunt him.
1. Clash of Time

**When Time Stops**  
Chapter 1: _Clash of Time_

"We're outnumbered," Naruto declared obviously, shoulder to shoulder with his sensei as they eyed their enemies. They were on a supposedly simple mission; take the haughty daimyo back to his home village unscathed by the band of nin trying to kill him, then get back soon enough to catch the big numbers on the paycheck. The lack in difficulty in the mission resulted in a mere two-man escort squad due to the fact that two of Konoha's very finest ninja had been assigned to the task. They were returning to Konoha now, and they would most likely get there mid-morning if they didn't rest, though it seemed that fate wasn't satisfied with that. Five unidentifiable ninja had suspiciously slithered out of the bushes, and were blocking their path. By their stances and the kanji sewed onto the fabric of their shirts, there were two jounin and three chunin.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" The silver-haired jonin spoke evenly behind the book he was reading, attention no longer on its pages. Something was off about these ninja - he could feel it in his gut, a feeling that was only developed after a lifetime of acting upon those exact feelings.

A kunai whizzed between Kakashi and Naruto.

"Not much for talking, are they?" Naruto mumbled, fingers inching towards his own kunai in preparation for a fight.

Kakashi looked over the enemy's headbands, a perfect circle with two small dashes branching off of it and meeting to a point in the center. A symbol he had never seen, only heard of before. The silver-haired man could faintly remember small wisps of ninja folklore that he had read at some point. If memory served him right, they were from a nearly extinct group; small in number but very, very skilled. Dangerous. "Naruto…" he whispered, an urgent tone evident in his voice. His student, who had become his equal, paid him no heed.

"Kakashi-sensei, you take the chunin and I'll take the pair of jonin. Okay?" Naruto dashed off in excitement, in no mood to wait around to be attacked.

"Shit, Naruto, wait!" Kakashi yelled, eyes wide. This was not good – very bad in fact. If what he remembered about these ninja was correct, it would take an act of god to help them survive. The three chunin suddenly surrounded Kakashi and lunged into an attack.

Naruto slashed at one of the jonin, only for his attack to be blocked and to be thrown back unexpectedly, sliding across the dirt. He pushed himself up, eyes searching wildly for his attacker. The second jonin appeared suddenly out of nowhere at his side and slashed at his arm. Naruto recoiled back several feet, covering his superficial wound with his other hand.

"What do you think you are doing?" The taller of the two asked in a very thick accent that he had never heard before.

"I'm kicking your ass! That's what I'm doing." Naruto watched the jonin carefully, the one who had spoken had turned his back and started towards Kakashi and the three chunin, calling over his shoulder, _"Make sure not to kill him Leobwin, he will be essential to Kakashi's survival and care."_ The shorter jounin left standing in front of him grunted, turning back to Naruto and staring at him casually. Naruto spared a moment to watch his sensei, who seemed to be struggling to keep up with the three chunin attacking him.

_"Why don't you just stay out of the way for a little while, hm?" _ The man in front of him said in his own thick, guttural language

A burst of yellow light hit the blond in an instant and before he could move, his jonin attacker had disappeared. He wheeled around, blue eyes searching, to the sound of chirping – Kakashi's chidori. Two chunin were lying on the ground motionless, the third clutching his gut. The pair of jonin stood calmly before their wounded teammate acting as a barrier, and they began to form a set of strange seals together and chant in a foreign language.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, scrambling to his feet and running towards them as Kakashi rushed at the jounin ninja. An instant later, the strange men finished chanting and thrust their palms forward, each of them forming a triangle with their hands. A blinding white light erupted around them, consuming everything in the clearing, causing Naruto to recoil and shield his eyes. He blinked when the light had passed, his vision dark in the comparatively dim afternoon light. Slowly, his vision returned. It was blurry at first, but he furiously scanned his surroundings, searching for some sign that his sensei was alright, but saw nothing where the six ninja should have been. The strange ninja were gone and only a lump of clothing was left where Kakashi had been. He stuttered, mouth open and tripped forward before running full speed to the spot Kakashi had been. His mind became blank, unable to consider what had happened. He slid to a halt next to where Kakashi bad been and realized, upon inspection of the clothing that had been left, that there was someone left underneath Kakashi's clothes, a small boy with short silver hair, curled up unconscious inside the clothing.

The blond dropped to his knees. The boy, Naruto realized, looked exactly like his sensei, if only in the form of a child."What the hell…" he breathed, unsure what was happening. He tentatively touched the child's face, making sure he wasn't imagining things, and jerked back quickly when he felt the smooth skin of a child beneath his fingers. He stood up and clenched his fists angrily in his hair, "What the fuck did you bastards do?!" He stared, distraught at the child, "What kind of jutsu is this?"

It was obviously Kakashi – a much younger Kakashi than the one he knew. Whatever the jutsu had done, Naruto surmised, Kakashi seemed to only be a few years old - two or three by the looks of it. Or perhaps, the unfamiliar ninja had cast some kind of extremely enhanced genjutsu that was undetectable to the naked eye. He knelt next to Kakashi's small sleeping figure. He could feel a small chakra pulsing out of him, however it was much smaller than it had been only a few moments before. The blond brushed the silver hair out of the boy's face and noticed the scar over his left eye was gone. More than that, the boy seemed utterly unharmed and serene, as if only taking a short nap.

Naruto carefully scooped up his sensei-turned-child in his arms, unused to holding such a small, fragile looking human being. "We'll make camp tonight, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto started, staring down at the boy's peaceful features, carefully adjusting the overly-large shirt to cover the boy's naked body, "and tomorrow I'll take you to Tsunade - she'll fix you back to normal for sure." The words sounded unsure even to his own ears and he was silently grateful that Kakashi wasn't awake to see him worry. He picked up the adult sized clothes and fallen weapons, and jumped into the trees to find a campsite.

* * *

Naruto didn't sleep that night.

He had made a campfire and tried to make a soft little bed out of the remainder of Kakashi's clothes, but Kakashi hadn't woken up yet. He was starting to get worried as he sat next to the fire, fidgeting with his sensei's headband in his sweaty palms, but Kakashi's chakra continued to pulse faintly like any untrained young ninja. The predicament confounded him. He'd never known a jutsu that could do this and he wasn't quite sure what to do about it. Not only that, but he had no idea what to do with a little toddler – let alone one that was his sensei.

He poked a stick into the fire, stirring up a furry of embers and eyed the perimeter of their campsite, on watch for the bastards who had done this to his sensei and hoping they would show up so that he could beat their faces in and force them to turn Kakashi back.

The morning couldn't come soon enough for the apprehensive jounin. Before the sun was even up, Naruto had gathered their stuff and was soaring through the trees with a slumbering Kakashi held against his chest with one arm, Kakashi's head resting on his shoulder. He was making good time; it had been nearly three hours since they had started off that day. He hadn't stopped running - sprinting - since he had started that morning.

A subtle movement from the small person in his arm made him slow to a stop on one of the branches. He carefully moved the boy into both of his arms. "Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked cautiously, eyes filled with unmasked worry as he searched his sensei's face.

The silver-haired boy rubbed his eyes groggily with tiny, clumsy fists and peered around at his surroundings. His expression changed a bit from being tired to slightly scared by the unfamiliar surroundings and person.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you okay? How do you feel? What happened to you?"

Kakashi stared up at him with his young, scared and curious grey eyes. "Who're you," he asked hesitantly, his words mumbled together.

"Wha-" Naruto started, a wave of panic hissing him like a train. "Kakashi, it's me, Naruto - your student! Don't you remember me, Sensei?"

Kakashi stared back at him with a half-confused look on his face before he looked around and pointed at the ground.

Naruto stared at the silver-haired boy, with innocent grey eyes and untouched features. His sensei was in the body of his child-self and he had no recollection of his own student.

"Down," the boy said, pointing again to the ground, more forcefully than the first time, squirming to get out of the blond's arms.

"No, I can't put you down now, Kakashi, you'll fall off the tree." He watched Kakashi's frustrated expression.

Kakashi continued to squirm, becoming more unruly. "Down, down, down." The boy demanded, growing frustrated and scared that he was being held against his will by this strange man.

"Okay, okay, wait a second." Naruto finally gave in, jumping to the ground at a frightening speed for the young boy. Naruto carefully set Kakashi on the ground, watching his former sensei, balance unsteadily on his own two feet.

Kakashi looked around, fear evident in the boy's expression. "Daddy?" He called out, searching desperately for his parent.

Naruto pursed his lips, squatting to his young sensei's level. "Kakashi, you're dad's not here," he began, grabbing on to the boys hand to keep him from wandering off. Kakashi's eyes snapped toward him, grey eyes meeting blue ones. "He's..." Naruto continued, having gained the boy's full attention, "uh, on a mission right now. Yeah, " he nodded at his own words, assuring himself that it would do to placate the boy for the moment, "he's on an important mission and I'm going to be watching you for a while, okay?"

Kakashi nodded slowly.

Naruto smiled, "We should get going, back to Konoha, now. Let me carry you so that we can make it home on time."

The silver-haired boy shook his head furiously, pouting at the blond.

Naruto sighed and stood. "Fine then, we'll walk for a while, first." He grabbed onto Kakashi's hand again, holding it within his own and led the boy forward, walking at a painfully slow pace as his mind raced with thoughts about what had happened to his sensei.

* * *

They eventually came to a small village on the way to Konoha, still quite a long walk from the Hidden Leaf Village. He was carrying Kakashi on his side by now, the boy growing tired from walking shortly after they had begun. The citizens of the small village stared at the strange pair as they passed. "Hey, Kakashi, is it just me or is everyone staring at us?" Naruto whispered to the little boy.

Kakashi nodded and smiled, hiding his head abashedly against Naruto's shoulder.

"Hey, Kakashi-chan," Naruto poked his side, "You can't hide and leave me out here alone!"

Kakashi squeaked and pushed as far away from Naruto's chest as his little arms would reach, "Don't tickle, Nii-san!" he ordered with a smile.

"Oh alright, not where anyone can see your ultimate weakness." Naruto winked and smiled, "Beware, the attack can come at any moment."

Little Kakashi put on a look of fierce concentration that resembled a pout with his cute baby face as held up two fists.

Naruto swore he heard a chorus of 'awws' behind them.

Naruto stopped to buy Kakashi some clothes that were actually the boy's size and then made his way to a little ramen stand along the side of the road; a little run down building with faded paint and missing letters in the name.

"Ah, good afternoon, travelers!" The old man behind the counter greeted as they walked in.

"Hey, old man!" Naruto waved as he sat down and set Kakashi in the seat next to him. "Two miso ramen, please."

Their steaming bowls came out a moment later. Naruto dug in and little Kakashi easily broke apart the chopsticks and carefully lifted one noodle at a time into his mouth.

"Well, well, you're quite the skilled boy, aren't ya?" the old man noted, watching Kakashi use the chopsticks with ease for a child his age.

Kakashi looked up at the man and nodded.

Naruto and the old man laughed.

"He's a handsome young man. Is he yours?" The man asked.

"Well, no, his dad is...uhm, on a mission. I'm just a close friend, like a big brother to little Kakashi. We're on our way back home to Konoha right now." Naruto smiled at the man, lying with the ease of a well-trained jounin.

* * *

"Granny Tsunade!" Naruto burst into her office.

She looked up and set her papers down, "Ah, Naruto welcome back. How was your mission? Where's Kakashi?" She leaned to the side, trying to peer around the blond jounin and into the hallways, but saw nothing.

"About that," He started, shifting uneasily, "You'll be happy to hear that the mission was completed in good time!" His eyes flickered from the Hokage to the village outside her office window uneasily. "But, uhm, something happened to Kakashi-sensei..." the blond trailed off, glancing to meet Tsunade's eyes, searching her expression.

She raised her eyebrows, "Is he alright? Where is he?"

"He's safe. He fell asleep on the way home; he's at my house resting now. But…something happened to him on our way back. He's not himself." Naruto frowned, looking down. "We were ambushed by ninja I've never heard of before. Their headbands had a clock on them and they used jutsu I've never seen. And they used them so quick! I'm sure the battle lasted only two or three minutes. Kakashi finished off two of the chunin but the jonin used some sort of jutsu and…" Naruto stopped talking, the idea of explaining what had happened to Kakashi sounding ridiculous even to his own ears.

"And?" Tsunade asked, leaning forward, her eyebrows knit in concern.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei is a little kid now." Naruto looked up seriously at the Hokage's expression.

"That's ridiculous, is this a prank, Naruto?" The busty blond smiled.

"No, no!" Naruto waved his hands, stepping towards her, "I'm being serious Granny." His eyes met hers, filled with concern and sincerity.

Tsunade was silent for several excruciatingly long minutes and she leaned back in her seat, confused and surprised. "A clock was on their headband, you said?"

Naruto nodded.

"I've only heard – never seen – of a small group of ninja who practice jutsu that control and shape time. I'm not sure exactly what their jutsu can do, though…" Tsunade crossed her arms in thought, frowning.

"What do we do? What will happen to Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked after the Hokage had been silent for a length of time.

"For now, I want you to take care of Kakashi. Bring him to the hospital tomorrow and I'll do a full check-up on him and I'll decide what to do about his at that time. I'll have my people research these ninja and what their techniques can do."

"Alright…" Naruto replied, sad that they couldn't help Kakashi get back to normal right away. He wanted his sensei back; the man had become a close friend to him, one of his important people, someone that he looked up to and admired, and a person who had practically made him the person that he was today. He wanted to do whatever it took to get his sensei back to normal.

"It's all we can do for now, Naruto."

He threw up a smile, "I know Granny Tsunade! I'll write up the report tonight; see you tomorrow!" He yelled, already dashing out of the door.

* * *

"Here you go, Kakashi-chan," Naruto spoke as he lifted the little boy from the floor to the examination seat the day after arriving home in Konoha. "Now, Granny Tsunade is going to come and give you a check up, just to make sure you're not sick or injured, okay?"

Kakashi nodded and wiggled in his seat.

Kakashi had stayed with Naruto the entire night. Naruto had been thankful that Kakashi had slept almost the entire time, his little body worn out from the long journey.

After only a few minutes of waiting, Tsunade walked through the door, her presence demanding the room's attention. She stopped, surprised when she saw Kakashi. Naruto was right; he was just a child again. He looked exactly as he had thirty years ago. She glanced somewhat nervously at Naruto and back at Kakashi, putting on a warm smile. "Good morning Kakashi, how are you today?"

"Fine," He replied, watching her come forward and remove her stethoscope.

"That's good. Now, I'm going to put this against your chest so I can hear your heartbeat. Just breathe normally."

Kakashi grimaced at the proximity, but let her do her job. He wiggled uncomfortably, watching the strange looking doctor.

"I hear you stayed the night with Naruto last night, Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded, "Because Dad is on a mission. Nii-san is taking care of me."

"I see, and do you like staying with Naruto?" Tsunade asked, looking into Kakashi's two innocent gray eyes. It had been ages since she had seen them. They had surely never seen bloodshed before. They were no longer hard and guarded from years of pain and hurt. In them she could see true emotion, something that partly unnerved her; it felt wrong, in fact, to see Copy Ninja Kakashi so young and vulnerable.

Kakashi nodded.

Tsunade tested his reflexes and observed his chakra flow, all of which resembled a young ninja-to-be with no training.

"Can you tell me anything about what happened yesterday? What do you remember?" Tsunade asked as she wrote down the results on a clipboard.

"Dad is on a mission. And Naruto-nii is taking care of me like my big brother." He waved for Tsunade to come closer, as if to share some big secret that only he knew.

Tsunade gave Naruto a playful glance, but leaned in, face-to-face with the young boy.

"Naruto isn't really my brother," Kakashi whispered with wide eyes and a serious expression. This information was obviously S-ranked material.

"Ooh?" Tsunade gasped, feigning surprise.

Kakashi nodded, "Until Dad is back."

"Do you remember anything before your dad was on a mission, Kakashi-kun?"

The boy frowned, looking down and trying to remember. He glanced up at Naruto and then with a small smiled, "Miso!"

Tsunade laughed at the boys' shared enthusiasm for ramen.

"Anything before that Kakashi? It's really, very important." Tsunade's eyes were kind but serious as she searched the boy's thoughtful face.

"I…"he furrowed his eye brows. After a moment of thought, "Dad was reading scrolls late so I went to bed myself, and then I had a weird dream, but I don't know what it was about." He quickly looked up and swung his feet anxiously.

The woman hummed thoughtfully, and then smiled "You did great today, Kakashi. If you would excuse me for a moment, I need to have a word with Naruto in the hall."

Kakashi nodded slowly.

The two ninja stepped outside into the hall and shut the door. Naruto leaned back against it, "Well, Tsunade? What did you find out? Can we change him back?"

"According to my examination, he's as much a child as any other two- or three-year old running around Konoha. He is advanced in his motor skills and speech, although he's a little smaller than most his age, but I remember him to always be on the small side. It's certainly no genjutsu and I couldn't detect any sort of loophole to undo the jutsu..." She frowned in thought. "I also had my people research a little bit and gather some information. They've heard speculation about a certain technique that supposedly rewinds a singular person's time line. It's…never been done before – we can't even be sure that that is what was done to Kakashi."

"He doesn't remember anything either…" Naruto put in, slouching more.

"Mhmm, I assume all his memories from before have been locked away, possibly even erased, as if he's only been alive for three years. I'm not sure if they will ever come back."

Naruto turned slightly to peer through the window of the door. Kakashi was still there where they had left him, swinging his feet from the high bench. "Who's going to take care of him?"

"I'm not sure, he doesn't really have any family, unless you count Rookie 9, but you guys are hardly capable of—"

"I'll take care of him," he said seriously, receiving two doubting eyes.

"Naruto…it's no easy task raising a child, Kakashi especially. You just wait until he starts the academy, he'll be quite a handful. He'll need all your attention; you won't be able to take as many missions. And who knows how long this jutsu will last, it could be permanent, and we don't know the kind of effects it will have of his mind or body. Maybe he'll even stay this age forever, Naruto, there's no way of knowing."

Naruto smiled and looked back at the person who had been somewhat of a mother to him, "I know, Tsunade, but…I feel somewhat responsible for this and, well, Kakashi-sensei has always looked out for me. Now it's time that I look after him."

Tsunade smiled proudly, "That's quite mature of you, Naruto."

"Heh, it happens sometimes," he laughed, "but don't get used to it."

The blond leader smiled gently at the boy she cared so much for. "I'll have funds sent to your account so you will be able to buy anything you might need. Some new clothes, maybe a few toys, although I'm sure he'll be just fine without those – he never used them before, I don't see why he would now. And..." She set her hands on his shoulders, "Good luck, Naruto, you can come to me anytime for help if you need it."

Naruto nodded, "I'll let you know if there are any changes."

Tsunade smiled then walked away to her next patient down the hall.

Naruto sighed and glanced back at Kakashi through the window in the door and was met with the sight of curious gray orbs focused on him. Naruto smiled and walked back in next to the toddler. "Granny Tsunade says that you're perfectly healthy and are going to be a really strong ninja someday!"

Kakashi smiled as he jumped into Naruto's arms and was set down on the ground. "Like Dad?"

Naruto grabbed little Kakashi's hand as they started walking out of the hospital and back home, "Yup! Maybe even stronger."

Kakashi's smile widened as he jumped from one foot to the other, matching Naruto's long steps.

* * *

"Ready? Go!" Kakashi yelled before he jumped from the couch onto Naruto's vulnerable stomach down below on the floor.

"Ooof!" Naruto breathed out, pretending the young boy had knocked the wind out of him, which would be the case had he not used chakra to shield his torso from the past thirty minutes of being jumped on repeatedly.

Kakashi giggled as Naruto rolled around on the ground. "Naruto-nii! Watch this!" He exclaimed as he climbed up again on top of the couch. "Ready? Go!" He jumped and landed on Naruto's chest and continued to punch him with his tiny fists.

Naruto played the part well, grunting and groaning at each blow. "Mercy, mercy!" Naruto begged.

Kakashi looked thoughtful and then became serious, "A Hatake does not show mercy." He recited as if it had been worn into his brain.

Naruto half frowned, trying to laugh it off. He wondered where Kakashi had learned that from. It certainly wasn't something he had told the boy.

Someone banged at the door. Naruto sat up abruptly causing Kakashi to fall in a heap on his lap. His eyes were wide and searching. "Oh no! The rogue ninja found our hiding place!" Naruto exclaimed in mock panic.

Kakashi scrambled into an upright position on Naruto's lap, searching around for the infiltrators. His breathing was quiet and at a slightly faster pace than normal.

"What do we do, Kakashi-chan?"

Kakashi whispered, "A dambush."

Naruto nodded, "An ambush…" he repeated, correcting the boy's mispronunciation. "Alright, you hide and wait for my signal, I'll go distract them."

Kakashi nodded resolutely and ran around the couch where he crouched down in waiting.

Naruto stood and walked to the door. "Oh, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, opening the door to find his female teammate.

"How long, again, does it take to open a door, Naruto?" She complained, walking past him and into the house. She stopped upon entering, examining the messy kitchen with dirty dishes and the living room which looked like it had been blown up. "Naruto, what in the world were you two doing? This place is a mess! You can't raise a child in this filth." She exclaimed with exaggerated hand motions.

"Ahaha, sorry, we were, uh, you know..." He smiled and rubbed his head.

She rolled her eyes as she began picking up thrown off couch pillows. She noticed Kakashi hiding behind the couch and turned to Naruto.

He motioned for her to keep quiet and played off the signal by adjusting his headband exaggeratedly. "Oh, that mess," Naruto exclaimed suddenly, "Kakashi and I decided that in such a case anyone try and break into our house, they would trip over these pillows, giving us time to _attack_ them."

There was a pause, and Naruto and Sakura smiled at each other.

"I said," Naruto emphasized, a bit louder, "We would have an opportunity to **attack** those darn intruders!"

"Oh!" Kakashi exclaimed popping up from his hiding spot, "Get ready, rouge ninja! You're being dambushed!" Kakashi yelled, proceeding to rush to and tackle Sakura. He kicked her leg and she made a dramatic display of falling down from the injury. He instantly jumped on top of her with his tiny hand pushing down on her neck. "Dead. No mercy." He looked sternly down at her.

"Dead," she agreed with a smile.

Kakashi smiled back and slid off of her. Naruto pulled Sakura up to her feet, "That was some great ninja skills there, Kakashi-chan."

The boy beamed up at him. Naruto smiled at the boy's happiness and crouched down in front of him. "Kakashi," he said seriously, drawing the boy's attention immediately, "Who told you to show no mercy?"

Kakashi tilted his head in confusion. He looked at Naruto and glanced at Sakura. His gaze returned, "Dad says a Hatake never gives mercy."

"When did he tell you that, Kakashi-chan?" Sakura asked gently from above Naruto.

The little boy was a bit confused, looking into Sakura's thoughtful green eyes and Naruto's solemn blue ones. "Last night, Dad always talks to me when I'm sleeping."

"Oh, do you have dreams of your dad, Kakashi-chan?" Sakura asked curiously.

Kakashi nodded, "And Mama, and one time a big scary man with white hair!" the boy exaggerated.

Naruto laughed, knowing who was being referred to. He ruffled Kakashi's hair, "Well, from now on, we show mercy to everyone, alright?"

Kakashi nodded with a small smile.

"Hey, Kakashi-chan, would you like to go to the park?"

"Yes," He voiced shyly.

"What are you waiting for, then? Go put on your shoes!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi ran to the front door, sitting on the step at the entrance and slipping on his sandals.

It was sunny and mildly warm, the wind rustled the leaves lightly, just enough to keep the air pleasant. Naruto and Sakura walked together on the little trail around the small park; Kakashi had already dashed to the playground. Outside of the few people he knew, consisting mainly of Naruto, Sakura, and Tsunade, he wasn't much of a social, outgoing boy. He tended to stay quiet and observe – he would play by himself, and he seemed perfectly content doing so.

"So, Naruto, how are things with you and Kakashi-sensei?" She asked casually, "He's been like this for a while now, three weeks right?"

Naruto nodded as he watched his little silver-haired boy jump from the top of a step and run around with a stick, pretending to fight imaginary enemies. "Kakashi's fine," He replied with a distant look in his eyes.

Sakura stared at him, starting to worry.

"I miss him, our Kakashi-sensei…" He supplied, looking down at his feet. "And, well…he's always looked out for me and now I'm raising him. What if I don't do it right? I might seriously screw up one of the best ninja in Konoha!" Naruto explained. A worried look plastered itself on his face, one that didn't seem to fit on his usually happy, carefree face, as he walked with hands in his pockets.

Sakura smiled and elbowed him playfully, "You're doing fine Naruto. Look, he's so happy; I've never seen him smile like that before."

Naruto shrugged and mumbled a half-hearted agreement.

"And you two have a strong bond already," She continued, seeing that her friend needed just a little more encouragement. "He really looks up to you. He's been given a second chance, you know? He'll get to live a happier life now." She smiled off into the distance, satisfied with her argument. "I mean, before, with his mother and father, Obito, Rin, Minato…he hasn't had such an easy life; it'll be good for him. And you, Naruto Uzumaki, are finally learning to act like the mature adult you should be!" She punched him playfully on the arm.

"Ow! Sakura-chan!" he whined, pouting at her, "Be careful, I have to take care of a playful three-year old now, you know."

"Almost four," She chimed, "His birthday is next week."

Naruto halted, slightly panicking, "Four? How can he be four already? He just got here. What are we going to do? Sakura-chan, I have to go buy a cake and presents!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Geez Naruto, relax; we have time. I'll get Hinata and Ino to help plan a party. And besides, Naruto, Kakashi is only that playful because you made him that way. Seriously, you two play all the time!" She smiled shaking her head, "You've spoiled him."

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted, "Have not."

Sakura nodded knowingly, looking over to watch little Kakashi.

"Hn…but he likes it Sakura-chan," Naruto eventually rebutted.

* * *

Edited: 05/16/13


	2. That Same Self Strain

**When Time Stops**  
Chapter 2: _That Same Self Strain_

As Naruto waited for little Kakashi to finish his single bowl of instant miso ramen, he happily concluded that dinner was especially delicious – if his five barren bowls were any sign.

"So, I was thinking, Kakashi-chan, tomorrow we'll just stay in bed all day and not do anything at all. We'll just relax and read boring history books."

Kakashi's eyes grew wide and slightly panicked, "N-no! Nii-chan! We can't do that tomorrow! We have important things to do tomorrow!"

Naruto smiled slyly, "Whatever would we have planned for tomorrow Kakashi-chan?"

"Nii-chan!" Kakashi yelled, smiling and nearly standing up in his chair, "Tomorrow's my birthday!" He exclaimed, motioning wildly with his hands.

"Ooh~!" Naruto exaggerated, "I guess, we might do something maybe." He gave a lopsided grin.

Kakashi mirrored the blonde's grin, giving his brother a look saying he played around too much.

"Now, off to bed! Else you won't have enough energy to read through all twelve volumes of Konohagakure's History tomorrow!"

Kakashi jumped off his chair and dashed to his room across from Naruto's. They had moved into Kakashi's slightly larger apartment shortly after they had returned from the mission, in favor of the extra bedroom which Tsunade recommended for privacy later on as Kakashi grew up. Naruto followed at a slower pace, walking into the room to find his little Kakashi already tucked under the covers and looking at him expectantly.

He smiled, remembering his own childhood and how nice it might have been to have someone feed him dinner and tuck him into bed each night. Taking care of Kakashi made him realize just how much he missed the little things in his childhood, like someone to come home to and someone who would pick him up when he fell - someone to care. He took pride in knowing that he was helping Kakashi in this way; every kid should have someone who loves them and looks after them. He knew what it was like, and he had heard that Kakashi had grown up in a similar fashion, both parent dying when he was very young. In fact, Naruto realized as he sat on the side of the small twin bed, tucking in the sheets on both sides of the little figure beside him, he had never heard Kakashi talk of any family or significant other.

"Nii-chan, will there be presents?" Kakashi asked excitedly, pulling Naruto out of his thoughts.

The blond looked to his young sensei, smiling. Kakashi was his family; the man had been almost like a father since he, Sakura, and Sasuke had become a team. At that point, Kakashi had also gained his very own family. He was sure that his Kakashi-sensei felt the same way. "Maybe a pet bookworm or two," Naruto replied seriously and chuckled when Kakashi stuck his tongue out at him. "Goodnight, buddy," he messed his fingers through the strands of silver-blond hair, "sleep tight."

"'Night, Nii-chan," Kakashi hummed happily, snuggling into his pillow.

Naruto retreated silently, closing the door without a sound.

* * *

Naruto startled awake in the middle of the night, his hearing trained to hear strange noises while sleeping. THe sound of tiny feet running across the wooden floorboards and then the sound of a door opening caused him to open his eyes to see his little silver-haired charge step cautiously into his room. He sat up in bed to see Kakashi peeking around the door, eyes puffy and red, and lip quivering.

"Kakashi?" Naruto gasped tossing his legs over the side of the bed, "Come here, what's wrong?" He held his arms out, inviting the teary eyed child into them. Kakashi rushed forward and threw himself into Naruto's arms, burying his face into the older man's shirt. Naruto picked up the small, shaking boy and set him on his leg, letting Kakashi sniffle against his chest while he wrapped both arms around him tightly, holding him close. "Shhh, it's alright now, Kashi," he soothed, rubbing his back softly, lips pressed onto the top of his head.

"I-I had a really bad d-dream…" the boy sobbed, voice hitching in mid-sentence.

Naruto frowned. All of Kakashi's dreams so far had been about his first childhood. He wondered what had caused this reaction out of the boy.

Kakashi sniffled and looked desperately into Naruto's eyes, searching for some sort of answer.

Naruto stared back, very worried and confused. He softly combed the silver hair off of the boy's clammy skin.

"M-mom was sick and now she won't wake up; dad said that she's dead." He weakly sat on Naruto's lap, lip quivering and looking like he was struggling not to burst into tears.

Naruto frowned, petting Kakashi, at a loss for what to do to make him feel better. Death was a painful thing, something that all ninja learned at a very young age. Kakashi was too young to have to go through it though. It felt wrong that Kakashi had to live through such pain for the second time in his life.

"D-dad said that I can't cry..." Kakashi told Naruto, looking at the blond with large, watery, hurt eyes, his voice shaky and soft, "a strong ninja never shows his emotions."

Naruto felt like he had been punched in the gut. How could anyone tell a child that they couldn't cry. "Oh, Kakashi," Naruto started, feeling saddened at Kakashi's grief. "It's okay to cry in your brother's arms," he said softly, puling Kakashi into his chest and holding him tightly there as he began to sob uncontrollably.

Naruto held the grieving boy for a long while afterward, gently rocking the shaking figure in his arms. After many long minutes had passed, which seemed like forever and no time at all, Kakashi regained enough composure to stifle his tears enough to talk.

"Naruto-nii," He mumbled into Naruto's, now soiled, pajama shirt.

"Hm?" Naruto replied softly, not trusting his voice to stay strong.

"Is it true..is mommy really gone?"

Naruto sadly nodded, "Yeah, Kashi, its true…" tightening his arms around the boy.

A weak, helpless cry slipped undesirably through Kakashi's quivering mouth. Naruto felt powerless and desperate. He continued to rock and cradle, to soothe and rub the child's back until Kakashi had cried himself out and lay weakly against the blond.

"C'mon," Naruto said softly into the silver head of hair, "How about you sleep with me tonight, okay?"

Kakashi nodded halfheartedly and allowed Naruto to lay him down in the bed and pull covers up over them both. Curled up into Naruto's chest, with a pair of trusted and strong arms holding him tightly and comforting him, sleep found him quickly, tears still sliding down his cheeks.

Naruto only slept a few hours after that. He woke early, walking out into the kitchen where he made himself a cup of tea and slumped into the couch, thinking over Kakashi's dreams and how they would affect him. He sat on there for hours, lost in his thoughts, only to be brought out of them hours later by a tap on the door.

He frowned momentarily and glanced at his mostly full cup of tea, cold by now. He sighed, setting it aside on the coffee table and pushing himself up, his limbs protesting in the process from such a long time sitting still. He trudged over to the door, opening is and greeting his guest with an unenthusiastic, "Oh, hey Sakura."

Her green eyes widened slightly, looking him up and down, "My god, Naruto, what's wrong? You look terrible!" His hair was a mess, dark bags under his eyes, and still wearing his pajamas wich were wrinkles and a little soiled looking.

He motioned for her to come in, walking into the kitchen to prepare two new cups of tea as she sat against the edge of the kitchen table.

"Long night," Naruto explained as he poured the tea into each cup. He set the tea pot down, grabbing both cups and handing one to his teammate, "Kakashi had another dream about his first childhood. He found his dead. She has been sick for some time now. And his dad, the bastard, told Kakashi he couldn't cry about it…"

Sakura gasped, "Oh, poor Kakashi, is he alright?" She asked, the worry evident on her face.

"I don't know, he's still asleep; he must have cried for two hours last night." Naruto held his cup of tea between cupped hands, letting the liquids warmth fade into his palms and travel up his arms, warming him up and hoping that it might help to wake him up. He stared down at the liquid, thoughts clouding his mind.

She looked sadly at her teammate, "And you?"

"I'm…worried. He keeps having these dreams from his past, and if it continues, then there's going to be a lot of nights like last night." He looked at Sakura, frowning. "What's it going to do to him? It'll be like living two lives and every night he'll have to relive the past. His mother is gone now and his father won't be around much longer either; he's still got quite a few left to go. And all these things…they really did happen; when he asks I have to tell him that it's true. What am I supposed to tell him, Sakura?" He looked at her desperately. His eyes, usually a sparkling blue, lacked their luster and seemed dull and defeated.

She set her tea aside and reached out to him, grabbing his hand and holding it in two of hers. She gave him a small comforting smile, "For now, nothing, he's too young to understand. Next time, it'll be his father and he'll have to grieve just like he did last night. Next it will be Obito and he'll be old enough and strong enough to understand and handle all this information. You should explain it to him then, about what happened and why he's having these dreams, okay? By then, maybe he can come to accept his 'double-life' and use this opportunity as a second chance at life."

Naruto nodded unsurly.

"For now just be there for him, answer his questions to the best of your ability; you're all he's got. He needs you, Naruto." She smiled.

"Heh, yeah…" he half-smiled back.

The door to Naruto's bedroom creaked open and faint, slow patters came down the end of the hall where a small frail Kakashi peered around. His little swollen eyes glanced back and forth between Sakura and Naruto uneasily.

Naruto smiled, realizing the boy's unwillingness to be seen in a weak state. His father had told him that Hatake do not cry and he could understand the boy's unwillingness to disobey his father by showing his weakened emotional state. He patted his lap softly and Kakashi ran to him. Naruto picked him up and held him in his lap. "Nii…" Kakashi whined softly," my head hurts and my eyes hurt."

Naruto looked over to Sakura, silently asking for her help. She nodded with a smile.

"It'll go away, Kakashi-chan," he gave the boy a tight squeeze. "Aren't you going to say hi to Sakura-chan?"

Kakashi only gave Sakura a doubtful, untrusting glance.

"Oh, c'mon, it's only Sakura-chan. She'll be upset if you don't go give her a hug."

Kakashi looked up at the blond and pouted, then glanced shyly at the pink headed girl. Slowly, he slid of Naruto's lap and trekked to the side of the table, head lowered, and leaned into Sakura, letting her be in charge of the hugging. Sakura hugged him tight and activated her healing chakra, undetectable to little Kakashi, easily nudging away the boy's discomforts.

Naruto mouthed a soundless 'thank you'.

She nodded. "I heard that someone is turning four today." Sakura said suddenly.

Kakashi pulled back and looked up at her with anticipating eyes, "I'm four years old today, Sakura." He explained, as if anyone else could possibly be turning four on this day.

"You are?" She gasped.

Kakashi nodded.

"Then maybe…just maybe…I should give those presents over there to you." She pointed innocently towards the front door where a bag and two boxes of wrapped gifts lay.

Excitement built in Kakashi's face, a half grin growing although his eyes didn't shine quite as brightly as they had even the day before. He rushed to the presents, 'ooh'ing and 'aww'ing over them.

"Bring them over here, Kakashi-chan, aren't you going to open them?" Naruto encouraged, smiling at the joy that the gifts brought his young sensei.

Kakashi carried each present, one at a time, to Naruto, who put them on the table. Kakashi then took his seat on Naruto's lap and pulled one of the presents closer, delicately peeling back the wrapping. He gasped when he opened the lid of the box.

Naruto smiled, "What is it, Kashi?"

"It's a kunai holster!" He exclaimed pulling it out of the box and holding it up to have a better look at it.

Naruto put on a face of mock terror, "Sakura-chan! Are you insinuating that my boy be a strong, dangerous ninja? I would never allow it!"

Sakura giggled.

Kakashi looked up at him, determination evident in his tone, "Nii, of course I'm going to be a strong, dangerous ninja! Stronger than you and dad..." He grew silent, his face turning hurt and eyes glazing, remembering his parents and the horrors his dream held for him.

Naruto winced.

"Your mom and dad would be so proud of you, Kakashi-chan," Sakura smiled. She reached forward and stroked his cheek lovingly for good measure. "Your parents will be proud to have such an incredibly strong, and powerful son."

Kakashi smiled back a little. He set the holster down and moved on to the next present. He unwrapped a pair of blue ninja-like sandals and a little navy and gray ninja outfit. He was ecstatic and rushed to go put everything on, returning only a few minutes later, clad in his new attire. Naruto tried to hide a smile to himself, noticing that the shirt and pants were a little bit too big. Kakashi didn't seem to care or even notice, though. His eyes shined with happiness.

"You look like a scary ninja to me; I wouldn't wanna fight you." Naruto admitted.

They returned home late that night from Kakashi's surprise birthday party. Naruto was struggling to carry all the present inside the house and Kakashi dragged along behind, clenching a fist of Naruto's jacket; Kakashi had been birthday-partied out. The blond was surprised the newly four-year old was still awake and standing. He quickly set down all the presents beside the couch, including the present he had giving to Kakashi, a set of wooden kunai to put into the holster Sakura had given him earlier that day – they had coordinated presents.

"Okay, here we go," Naruto picked up the half-asleep boy, holding him with one arm on his side, "off to bed with you." He walked into Kakashi's bedroom and began laying him down, but the boy grabbed on to him tighter and whined. "Kakashi," Naruto sighed exasperatedly, also very tired from little sleep the night before. He tried again with more of the same result; he was in no such mood. "Kakashi, use your words."

"I don't want to go to sleep, Nii."

Naruto softened. Kakashi knew that going to sleep meant having another dream, and he was scared of what might happen this time in his dream. "You have to go to sleep, Kashi," Naruto said tenderly.

Kakashi shook his head, tucking it into the crook of Naruto's neck, "With you…"

"Alright, alright," he peeled the small boy off of him, setting him carefully on the floor, "go change into your pajamas and brush your teeth, and then you can sleep with me."

Kakashi tiredly went to change and get ready for bed and crawled onto Naruto's bed while the blond was busy doing the same in the bathroom. Naruto returned to his room to find an already sleeping boy laying in his bed, silver tuft of hair sprawled over the pillows, legs tucked up against his chest, and little fists curled in front of his face.

* * *

"Ah, thank you so much for watching Kakashi, Sakura-chan!"

Naruto followed Sakura into her quaint living room. Kakashi remained at the door, dressed in the ninja outfit Sakura had given him on his birthday nearly five months prior. It still didn't fit quite right. He examined the place from the entry. A small living room; one well worn couch; a large coffee table; a nice light, good for long hours of study; a bright, although small, kitchen off to the right; a toilet and bedroom door to the left; one exit; two adjacent windows. The place was small and suitable for a single occupant.

Naruto turned around, a flash of reprimand in his expression, "Kashi-chan, come in here, it's just Sakura's house."

Kakashi silently slipped off his ninja sandals and lined them against the wall by the door before he shyly retreated to Naruto's side and slipped his little hand into the blonde's larger one.

"It's no problem, Naruto," she reassured, taking the small satchel of Kakashi's belongings and setting it down on the table, "I'm happy to take care of Kakashi-chan anytime. Now, wheres my hug?" She smiled and held her arms open.

The boy reluctantly stepped forward and allowed himself to be hugged. He quickly retreated to Naruto's side. The older boy shrugged and gave an apologetic smile at the pink-haired girl's look of disappointment.

Naruto crouched down at the solemn boy, examining his childlike features and eyes that were already growing hard. "Sorry to leave you, Kashi, but this mission's really important – S rank." He gave a wink and the boy smiled a bit at that. In the past weeks, the boy had grown more serious and played less with Naruto. He was also becoming more curious about what it meant to be a good ninja and had been practicing almost non-stop with his new wooden kunai (they had been replaced twice already!). On top of that, he had become more inward and less social with anyone who was not Naruto, even to Sakura. Naruto had worried at first, as had Sakura, but everyone who had known Kakashi as a child knew that Kakashi had not acted much like a child even when he was one. "You know Sakura," he reassured Kakashi and himself,, looking into Kakashi's grey eyes "you've been here lots of times before; I know you'll be fine. I'll be back in a few days, alright?"

Kakashi was silent as he stared into Naruto's blue eyes.

"Oookay?" Naruto asked again, this time playfully tickling the boy's ribs.

"Yeah," Kakashi replied, smiling and pushing the older boy's hands away.

Naruto smiled lovingly and gave the boy a big, sloppy kiss on the forehead – which was quickly wiped away with the sleeve of his shirt by said boy. "Bye Kashi-chan, bye Sakura-chan, love you, and I'll be back soon!" He called, waving as he hurried out the door and ran down the street to meet his team on time. Kakashi watched his brother through the window a moment before turning back to the older kunoichi.

"So," she said brightly, hoping her excess zeal would rub off on him "what do you want to do first, Kakashi-chan?" Kakashi had been rather reserved towards her in recent months, something she refused to admit hurt her. SHe was sure she just needed to spend more time with her young sensei. Of course he would never be the mentor she once had, but they could continue to be a team and a family towards each other.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head slightly before he walked over to his bag and pulled out a book about ninja basics, "Sorry, Sakura, I have to study." He said simply as he sat down cross-legged on the couch and flipped his book open to some predestined spot.

She inwardly wondered just how easy it would actually be to rebuild her relationship with her sensei.

* * *

Naruto drew circles in the dirt as he slouched next to the camp fire, a distant look on his face. It had been only three days and he couldn't stop worrying about Kakashi. His personality had been changing drastically in the recent days and it didn't sit well with him. The boy was always practicing with his kunai, and when he wasn't practicing, he was reading about strategies, rules, and ninja techniques. He no longer laughed or asked to play ninja with Naruto. He no longer wants to go to the park, and smiles were becoming increasingly difficult to pull out of the young ninja-to-be. He had tried to force Kakashi to stop training and studying so hard, explaining that Kakashi was still only a child and should do more kid things. The silver-haired boy had not responded well to that. Even when being banned from reding ninja books (as best as the young boy could read a book), Kakashi seemed to know more and more information each day. Naruto guessed that he was also learning new information from his first life in his dreams. His eyes were what bothered him the most, though. They no longer held the child-like innocence of a four-year old, but had become hard and calculating, mistrusting and serious. He had gone and spoken with Tsunade about his worries, but she assured him that this was how Kakashi was at this age growing up, from the few times she had seen him thirty years ago.

Still, he also worried about how Kakashi would be with Sakura. His new mood was less caring and he knew that Sakura, although she understood, was hurt by it a little and it made her miss their sensei just a little bit more.

"Naruto-kun.." Hinata mumbled, looking at him worriedly. He made no notice of her, distracted as he was by his thoughts, and she quickly looked down, hiding her embarrassment.

He wondered what he could do to help the situation. Maybe Kakashi and Sakura just needed more time together...

"Naruto!" Shikamaru barked.

The blond jounin snapped his head up in surprise.

"So troublesome.." Shikamaru grumbled, crossing his arms, "This is a delicate mission; please try to pay attention."

Naruto smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

"This is an S-ranked mission to retrieve classified information from a hidden source in Kumogakure about Akatsuki activities. There will be attacks from either Kumo nin, or even from the Akatsuki themselves, so be at one hundred percent alertness." He eyed both of his team members, "Tomorrow, we begin our mission."

* * *

Edited 05/18/13


	3. Bulletproof Cardboard

**When Time Stops  
**Chapter 3:_Bulletproof Cardboard_

"Ack!" Hinata cried as she took a deep kunai in the shoulder and fell to her knees, clutching the wound. Shikamaru scowled in focus, trying to hold four of the Kumo jounin and catch the fifth who had attacked Hinata. _'Damn it Naruto, how long does it take to go fetch a scroll?'_ He thought to himself. Hinata's attacker, a well built man with long hair covering half his face and holding two blades turned and started running towards him, a malevolent smirk on his lips.

"Hinata?" Shikamaru yelled nervously, "Do you think you could get up, please, NOW?"

This was it. Hopefully Naruto could finish the mission without them. They had run into strong resistance in Kumogakure. As thought, they had been attacked, but they hadn't expected so many. In order to complete the mission, they had decided Naruto should go retrieve the secret scroll – if he encountered resistance, he would be able to handle himself – while he and Hinata stayed to hold back these five. The Kumo-nin lunged at Shikamaru, blades already in motion.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled in shock, eyes wide. Blood splattered everywhere.

* * *

Sakura sighed, finishing up the nights dishes and looking out the window into her backyard where a little boy ruthlessly trained himself. He had been at it since afternoon and it had been dark for hours now. He had even refused to stop and eat supper.

Little Kakashi worried her, plain and simple. In the past week all he had been doing was reading and training. She had noticed he'd been getting little sleep due to his dreams that woke him up. She tried to get him out of the house every once in a while and slip vitamins into his food.

Even so, she worried. He was so antisocial and isolated for his age; much too mature. Sighing again, she dried her hands and walked to the back door, opening it and watching Kakashi practice his taijutsu moves.

"Kakashi-chan," she called.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, never stopping his movements.

"Why don't you stop for the night? It's getting late."

"Sakura," He explained, "I have to train. If I don't I'll never be a powerful ninja."

"Come inside. Even ninjas need to rest." She waved him over.

He sighed dramatically and picked up his kunai and shuriken, trudging inside. She ushered him to the bath room and made his bed on the couch while he cleaned up and changed. His bare feet padded against the floor as he walked back out, setting his gear down next to his pack that lay against the couch. Sakura smiled at him as he scooted under the covers. His hair was still dripping wet; she doubted that he even toweled it off.

"Goodnight Sakura," he said, looking up at her and then closing his eyes and curling up under the blanket.

She ran her hand over his wet hair and planted a soft kiss on top of his little forehead, "Good night Kakashi."

The next morning, Kakashi woke to the clanging of dishes in the kitchen as Sakura prepared breakfast for both of them. Her bustling and moving about the house annoyed him. She was a morning person; he was not. He sat up groggily and rubbed his face awake, his hand lingering a moment over his mouth.

He picked up his blankets as he would no longer be staying with Sakura, and shuffled to the table where the pink-haired ninja set out a bowl of food before him. He poked around at it, eating slowly.

"Eat up, Kakashi-chan," Sakura encouraged, messing through his hair as she passed towards her bedroom, "We've got some errands to do this morning before Naruto comes back."

"Hai," he called, quickly finishing up and changing into his ninja clothes. He swung his pack over his shoulders. He was to go home with his brother after meeting him at the gate.

A little while later, they were walking down the path towards the academy, a path he remembered from walking to the park with Naruto a few months previous. They walked through the ninja academy, Kakashi looking around curiously as they went down the hallway and wondering what went on behind the closed doors. He resisted the urge and dutifully followed behind Sakura, half trotting to keep up with her long strides.

"Tenten!" Sakura suddenly called; a large smile in her voice.

Kakashi peeked around here curiously and saw another kunoichi about the same age as his Sakura. She waved enthusiastically back at Sakura. The girl had dark brown hair pulled into two Chinese style buns, a white, high collared blouse and red hakama pants.

"Hi Sakura!" the girl called as Kakashi and Sakura stopped in front of her, "I haven't seen you in a while." Finally seeming to notice little Kakashi, she paused, somewhat taken aback, "H-hi Kakashi-chan, how are you?"

He stared back blankly.

"Kakashi," Sakura turned to him, pulling out an envelope from her pocket, "Would you mind delivering this letter for me?" She smiled brightly and he tentatively took it from her hand. "It will be your first mission! Please make sure it's delivered to Iruka-sensei, room 3-B."

Kakashi developed a look of determination, his eyes gleaming in hidden excitement. He gave a sharp nod before running past the two girls to complete his important assignment.

"Wow," Tenten whispered, "Is that really him?"

The two watched him down the hallway until he turned the corner out of sight.

"Yeah…It's him." Sakura replied fondly before the two started catching up.

Kakashi slowed a moment later as he came upon classroom 3-B. He wondered what they were learning behind that door. Surely something very important; it was, after all, the third year class. These students would be graduating at the end of the year to join their genin teams. Yes, they must be learning something _very_ important, and he wanted to know. Slowly, silently he slid the door open a crack and peeked an eye through, seeing a stadium of students behind desks, some paying attention, some not, while a teacher, Iruka he assumed, gave a lecture. They seemed to be discussing ninja tactics.

"So, class," the teacher directed, turning away from his writing on the board (which Kakashi, unfortunately, couldn't quite make out) and scanned his students, "who knows what to do if you suspect that your team is being followed by a group of three rouge ninja that are of jounin level?"

Several hands in the class shot up. One paper ball flew across the room.

"Sano?"

The boy thought a moment, fidgeting in his seat a bit, "Wouldn't you turn around and attack them? We would outnumber them, I mean, with our sensei."

"No, as genin you should never knowing and openly attack unknown ninja of jounin or higher levels. Even with your sensei, you would be easily outnumbered. Mikoto?"

"Well _I_ think the best course of action would be to cover your trail and hide until you can decide the best course of action. Maybe they'll even pass you and not notice." She nodded, approving of her own answer.

"Ninja of that level would never pass you by unless they were trying to trick you. None of you would be able to hide well enough to be completely undetected either." Iruka corrected, searching the room for more hands.

Several hands went down, obviously having a similar idea.

The teacher sighed, "The correct action to take would be-"

"To choose a suitable area where the ninja will pass through that provides suitable cover for your team and to set several traps in the 'kill zone.' You then hide downwind until the ninjas run into the trap. At that time, your team should dambush the jounin team, hopefully catching them off guard and giving you the advantage." Kakashi cut off the teacher and explained with a serious look from the open doorway.

Everyone stared at him, shocked that such a young boy would have an answer that complex and well thought out. Iruka was amazed on an entirely different spectrum. He had of course, heard that Kakashi had been turned into a child again due to some strange jutsu, but he had yet to actually see his old friend.

"Kakashi," Iruka stuttered, "that is…correct."

There were many cries of disbelief and dismay that a child a third of their age had gotten the answer right.

"Iruka-sensei! There's no way that twerp got the answer right and none of us did!" A boy cried out angrily.

"Maybe if you would pay better attention in class you'd get the answer right. Kakashi has, obviously, done his homework." Iruka rebuke his students.

After his students had sufficiently quieted, he turned back to the silver-haired boy standing in the door.

"What are you doing here anyways, Kakashi-kun?" It was so strange to call someone who should have been his own age – who was his superior – that name when he was really only a small child.

"I have a mission to deliver this letter to you, Iruka-san." He reported gravely, delivering it to the teacher's hand.

Iruka hummed to himself, opening and reading the letter before folding it back and setting it on his desk.

"Alright, thank you Kakashi, message received." He smiled as the boy's blank face.

Kakashi nodded once before spinning on his heel and marching out the door. Kakashi couldn't help but overhear the academy students whispering in astonishment at how young of a ninja he was; 'younger than even Uchiha Itachi,' whoever the hell that was. He made a note to find out. He closed the door and started down the hallways back towards Sakura, instead taking only a few steps and running into her. He berated himself for not paying more attention, like a ninja should.

"All done?"

He nodded seriously, looking up at her.

"Good job," She smiled and ruffled his hair. "Now..." the kunoichi started, looking to a clock hanging over a nearby door, "we should get to the gates. Naruto should be here within the next half hour."

They set off, Kakashi, again, dutifully following Sakura's long steps across the village to the gates. They checked in with the guards, making sure Naruto and his team hadn't arrived early and set in to wait. Kakashi leaned against the gate wall, playing with a rock with his toe. He crouched down to examine it and played in the dirt with his finger for a while. Growing bored, he started examining his hand. He had read a few days ago, something about chakra exercises. He didn't understand everything the book had said, but he wondered how he could access it. Every ninja had chakra.

"Sakura?" He called, still crouching and staring at his hand intensely.

"Hm?" she asked, leaning against the wall next to him.

"How do I get chakra?"He looked up at her expectantly.

She chuckled, "You don't have to get it, Kakashi-kun. When you mix your spiritual and physical energies you make chakra, which can be released through your chakra points."

Kakashi hummed, looking back at his hand and standing up. "How do I get physical and spiritual energy?"

"Through lots of training and studying." She walked over to a nearby tree, picking a single leave from its branches. "Here," she held the leaf against his forehead, "Now focus and try to use your chakra to keep the leaf there."

Little Kakashi looked skeptical, but closed his eyes in concentration anyways, not opening them until he felt Sakura remove her hand and the leaf dropped. He picked it up again, staring at it for a moment, and holding it to his head. Again, when he released it, it fell to the ground. He huffed, "Sakura, are you sure this is how you do it?"

She nodded, smiling at his frustration, "Keep practicing; that's how Naruto learned to control his chakra."

He sighed, continuing to try until Sakura finally decided they had waited enough and there were other things to be done. They again set off through the streets of Konoha.

* * *

The two had visited the hospital to check on a few of Sakura's patients and then headed to Ichiraku Ramen, where they sat now, quietly eating. The place was packed, with not an empty seat left, but the food was hot and fresh as ever.

Sakura silently worried about Naruto; he was seldom late and if so it meant they had run into trouble. She had tried to hide her worries, but Kakashi kept glancing over at her skeptically.

Kakashi ate slowly, concentrated instead on pondering what made Sakura so anxious. "Sakura? When's Naruto-nii going to get here?"

"I don't know Kakashi," she replied shaking her head.

He thought a moment, "Shouldn't they be here by now?" His young grey eyes peered up at her inquisitively.

Sakura sighed, running her hand through her hair and leaning against it. "Kakashi …" She had always been a worrier and she knew she was terrible at hiding it. The last thing she needed was for Kakashi to be worried too, and grilling her on the subject didn't help any.

Kakashi felt like he wasn't being told something and worry unintentionally grew itself in the back of his chest. He couldn't help but ask questions to find out what Sakura was hiding. "Is Naruto-nii okay? Did someone get hurt?" He leaned forward on the counter, trying to get a view of her face.

"Kakashi, please!" She snapped, turning to him. He shrunk back, subdued and looked down at his lap. Sakura breathed, calming herself down and berating herself for the outburst, "Please, just eat your food. Naruto will be back eventually."

Kakashi only poked at his food.

* * *

Naruto rushed back to his team, having recovered the scroll after running into a few setbacks and getting an unsettling feeling that something was going terribly wrong. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop, using chakra to speed up. In the distance he could see the small clearing on the edge of town where his teammates were fighting the Kumo ninja. As he got closer he saw Hinata be cut down and her attacker headed straight towards a cornered and defenseless Shikamaru. Naruto growled audibly, forcing as much chakra as he could to his feet to give him heightened speed.

He would not let his comrades die because he was too slow. He simply wouldn't allow it.

He jumped from the last rooftop, running so fast that everything was a blur. Faster and faster. The only thing he could see was the distance between Shikamaru and the Kumo-nin's kunai closing drastically. He dug deeper and pushed harder, throwing himself forward.

Blood splattered everywhere, soaking his jacket and covering his face and his attackers. He spit up blood and it dripped down his chin, splattering on the Kumo ninja's hand. His eyes—fierce and red—glared into the Kumo ninja's shocked ones.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru gasped, his expression also filled with astonishment.

"No one hurts my comrades and gets away with it," Naruto growled with feral.

The Kumo-nin jumped away, pulling back his kunai. Naruto staggered as the knife was pulled from his midsection but caught himself, and began running towards his opponent and simultaneously pulling out a kunai of his own.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" He yelled, creating 20 clones of himself. The Narutos easily overtook him, moving on to the other four. It wasn't until after that he allowed himself to fall to one knee, clutching the deep incision in his abdomen that was still bleeding furiously. Shikamaru ran over to him, after first checking on Hinata and ascertaining that she would be alright.

Shikamaru sighed, grateful for Naruto's timely return. The entrance, of course, had been shocking. He hadn't believed his eyes when Naruto had suddenly appeared in front of him. He bent down and examined the blonde's wound. If it had been anyone else, a wound like that could have killed a person from blood loss. Already, though, Naruto's injury was healing and the bleeding was slowing. He laid a hand on his teammates shoulder, "Come on Naruto, let's get you and Hinata bandaged and leave before more Kumo ninja come after us."

It wasn't long before they were off again, waiting until deep into the night to make camp and recuperate.

* * *

"Alright…" Sakura spoke absent mindedly, fishing for keys in her pocket and balancing two full bags of groceries. Kakashi stood behind her silently, holding another bag. He hadn't spoken the rest of the day, not wanting to pester the kunoichi any further. "Kakashi-chan, would you like to help me with dinner tonight?" Finally she found her keys and inserted them into the lock. "Hmm," she frowned, "Its unlocked…"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, hoping they could rush in and beat up the people that broke in. He followed the girl inside until she stopped suddenly. He peered around her, finding a certain blond ninja sitting on the couch and smiling at them. His eyes grew wide and excited. "Nii-chan!" he yelled, dropping his bag and running across the room to jump into Naruto who stood and caught him, lifting the little boy and hugging him tightly.

Sakura looked on fondly as the two greeted each other. Kakashi was an entirely different person around Naruto. She was glad that he had returned safely.

Sakura had made dinner for the three; all the while Naruto explained in heroic detail the happenings of the mission, using wild sound effect and overly dramatic hand motions. He showed off his healing wound proudly, receiving a scornful look from the little sliver-top who scolded his older brother that "according to ninja code number twenty five, ninja's weren't supposed to show emotion in combat."

To that, Naruto and Sakura laughed as Kakashi pouted. Maybe, eventually, they would have their sensei back.

A _long_ eventually.

**Beta-ed by EmpressofEvilBunnies 8/20/11**


	4. Law and Legend

**When Time Stops**  
Chapter 4: _Law and Legend_

Kakashi was focused on one thing and one thing only. Naruto could hardly even pull him away to eat or sleep. The only thing the boy ever wanted to do was train, and he asked Naruto to help him daily. He did, of course, help the young version of his sensei learn to call upon his chakra and teaching him the proper way to wield weapons. They often discussed strategies and the like over meals and while walking and the boy always wanted to check out a new book from the library. Naruto often wondered if Kakashi had been this interested in ninja related things growing up or if he had been too much of an influence on the boy. He guessed the first, seeing as how, after Uchiha Itachi, Kakashi had been one of the youngest ninja to graduate from the academy, doing so in only one year.

Kakashi had been living with Naruto almost eight and a half months now. The two were familiar with each other by now and both had adapted to their daily way of living. Strange had become the normal. Every day held new challenges to be dealt with; each night held new dreams to be dreamt. There were many sleepless nights and often times Naruto would notice that Kakashi mixed up past and present. He never corrected the boy. This morning was no different than every other day in that things were not as they normally were. This particular morning, Naruto rose to find Kakashi sitting on the couch, reading a book and wearing his too-big jacket, zipped all the way up over his face. Naruto shook off the odd clothing and moved on to the kitchen, fixing up something quick for breakfast.

Kakashi closed his book and followed Naruto into the kitchen. He was a laughable sight; the jacket fell below the boy's knees and he could never find his hands in the tunnel of sleeves. Naruto chuckled lightly to himself, shaking his head. He had an idea where this was headed.

"Naruto-nii," Kakashi began slowly, following closely behind the blond from one side of the kitchen to the other, only a few feet away, "Do you think we could go to the store today? I need a mask…"

Naruto paused and looked behind him as the boy with a small knowing smile, "Why?"

"Because," he started, thinking through his words, "to be a ninja you must cut off your emotions from your duty; Dad always used to wear a mask. As a Hatake, I have to follow in my dad's footsteps."

"But Kashi," Naruto playfully whine and rubbed the boy's messy hair, "then we can't see your cute little face!"

Kakashi frowned deeply at this and pouted, crossing his too-long sleeved arms.

Naruto smiled, and tapped Kakashi's chubby cheek playfully, "Come here, little one."

Kakashi turned and trotted after him, curious as to what Naruto was doing. Naruto led them to his closet where he rummaged around and eventual pulled out a small blue mask. He handed it carefully to the boy who examined it intensely. He wasted no time in trying it on, pulling it over his messy grey hair and fitting it right over his mouth and nose. He grimaced at the confining nature of it. He would wear it anyways; it was his duty.

"I thought you might want one sometime, so I bought one a while ago. How's it fit?" Naruto asked, smiling still. He was sad to see Kakashi's cute little face go, but Kakashi was one step closer to being his old self and for that he was happy.

"It feels weird…" Kakashi complained, pulling at it and adjusting it. He turned and ran to the couch, again cracking open his book, continuing life as normal.

Naruto followed after him languidly, returning to the kitchen but stopped in his tracks; a small track of dirt lay in the middle of the kitchen. He was sure it hadn't been there before and neither he nor Kakashi wore their shoes inside. He scanned the room defensively with his piercing blue eyes, all his senses on high alert and feeling uneasy, but found nothing amiss. He swept up the dirt and continued with his morning carefully; making a note to talk to Granny Tsunade and keep a look out for anything else that was remotely suspicious.

Later that evening, the two had gone to the training field to practice as Naruto had promised. They were practicing hand-to-hand combat, and while Naruto was barely exerting any energy at all, the little Hatake was out of breath and perpetrating profusely. Yet, he didn't stop, going at the blond with everything he had. After several hours, in which time Kakashi could still not manage to land a hit on his blond brother, Naruto decided they would be done for the day.

"Come on Kashi, let's go get cleaned up and grab a bite to eat, "He held a hand out and pulled the boy up to his feet from laying on the grass, completely wiped out. Besides, it was getting dark already and he still wanted to visit Tsunade after he had put Kakashi to bed and talk about his concern from earlier that morning. He had not noticed anything amiss after the incident this morning; that fact partially unnerved him even more. He wondered what someone would even be doing in his house. As far as he knew, there was nothing valuable there.

They walked home silently in the near deserted streets – by now most people had gone home for dinner and were settling in for the night – Naruto lost in his thought and Kakashi was too tired to waste energy on such a thing as talking. The boy adjusted his mask. They took the shortcut, as they always did, through the rougher part of town; the part a normal civilian wouldn't want to go down alone. Drunkards and trouble makers usually waited in the shadows in this part of town, but it didn't worry Naruto in the least; he could easily protect himself and Kakashi.

He jumped when three men suddenly appeared in front of them, having been lost in his thoughts. He recognized them instantly as they had not changed one bit since the last time he'd seen them; his heart sped up and eyes widened. "Kakashi," he said deadly serious. Half-terrified eyes looked up to him. "Run."

The boy stuttered and was pushed back, before he started running in the direction they had just come. Naruto took off at the ninja, pulling out a kunai. He _would not_ let them hurt Kakashi again. The time ninja attacked him; he couldn't keep up. He was sliced on the shoulder, then across the cheek and leg almost simultaneous. He could hardly see but a blur from his attackers. One of them punched him, hard, in the face and he fell backwards several feet, holding his, likely, broken nose. Two ninja took the opportunity to appear at his side and restrain him. He fought back, thrashing around, and received a harsh blow to the chest that knocked the wind out of him and would undoubtedly leave bruises. As he heard Kakashi yelp, he froze, eyes wide, as the third Time nin appeared several feet ahead holding a kicking Kakashi tightly to himself, his arm wrapped around the boy and tightly covering his mouth.

"What do you want with him?" Naruto screamed, furious.

The man in front of him laughed, switching to a position that was relaxed and somehow even more intimidating. His thick accent ran heavy in the air, "You see, Uzumaki, we want to live forever and be the greatest ninja there ever was. This new jutsu we've created will let us continually rewind time, thus never die. Once perfected, we will be able to retain all of our knowledge each time we slip back to our younger bodies. We need to borrow him to run tests on him and see what parts of our jutsu need improving, you understand." His sly grin shot through the dark and crushed Naruto's soul.

"**No**!" Naruto growled, unconsciously releasing a coat of red chakra, eyes turning blood red, "Give him back!" He pulled out of his attacker's grasp and went at them, attacking with the ferocity of a beast. He received a hard kick to the back, knocking him forward and caught sight of little Kakashi's watery, terrified eyes looking at him helplessly, begging for Naruto to help him.

Naruto's breath caught in the back of his throat. In the blink of an eye, all four disappeared, leaving Naruto alone on the street. Unblinking and choking on tears, he fell forward to his knees, seeing and feeling nothing. His heart seemed to stop beating. Kakashi was gone…he had failed to protect his sensei when he was helpless to defend himself. He felt hollow. How would he tell Sakura?

Not a moment later, like a dream, Kakashi appeared in front of him, falling unsteadily to his feet and looking around wildly. In an instant the boy barreled forward, running full speed into his chest, bawling and desperately pleading for Naruto not to let them take him away again. Unable to think, Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around the terrified, bloodied boy, and they stayed there, Naruto silently holding the crying boy in the middle of the road, until ANBU had arrived at the scene, having noticed the burst of demon chakra, and escorted them to the Hokage.

Tsunade had ordered ANBU to double their guards, finding it troubling that the Time ninja would and, could easily, walk into Konoha. Sakura had come over that night to stay with Naruto and Kakashi, both having been badly shaken. Naruto would hardly let little Kakashi out of his sights and he certainly didn't sleep on that that long, unforgiving night. His mind kept running over the one-sided fight against the Time ninja. He had stood no chance against them; they were simply too fast. They had said something about a jutsu that could rewind time. He thought it quite possible that they could also manipulate time and move virtually undetected. They could even, if they chose, remain near nonexistent to the rest of the world, something, it seemed, they had been doing a fairly good job at. There was only one jutsu that he knew of that could possibly keep up with their speed; he vowed to master it, for Kakashi's sake.

* * *

Kakashi had just had his fourth birthday and would start school today. Naruto, admittedly, was worried for his little charge. Kakashi was naturally a loner and somewhat antisocial, but since…that incident…he had grown even quieter and distant from everyone. Naruto worried, as they walked towards the academy, if kids at school would pick on him for his age or personality, or if someone would ask questions about Kakashi's condition that would cause problems. Not only that, but Kakashi had been tested and put into both a second and third year class, meaning half of the day would be spent with the second years, and then he'd join class with the third years for the other half. He glanced sideways as the young boy, who walked quietly beside him. If the four year old was worried, he hid it well. Naruto assumed that Kakashi was more excited to finally start his ninja training that anything else.

They stopped outside of the school yard fence, where they would part. "Are you ready?" Naruto asked lightly and forced a smile.

Kakashi nodded bravely but softened, worried eyes looking to the children that were already heading into the school building.

Naruto smiled softly at the rare moment of emotion Kakashi was displaying, "I'll be waiting here for you after school, okay?"

Kakashi looked back at him, with those same eyes and abashedly moved forward, hugging the blond's waist tightly and digging his face into the material.

Naruto embraced him tightly in return, but soon peeled the boy off, crouching down and looking him in the eye, "You'll be fine Kashi. You're strong; a Hatake and an Uzumaki." Naruto smiled brightly, his blue eyes shining.

Kakashi nodded, courage growing in his grey eyes, "I'll see you after school Nii-san."

The blond nodded resolutely as he stood back up. "See you after," he replied, more to himself as he watched Kakashi walk determinedly through the kids (most at least twice his age) and into the academy.

Naruto waited outside well past the start of classes. He wanted to be able to come to Kakashi's aid should something happen. Eventually, he pried himself away from the academy and shuffled down the street, not completely aware of where he was headed until he noticed he was headed towards the hospital where his pink-haired teammate was working today. He made his way inside, not bothering to stop at the front desk, but instead wondered the halls himself. Eventually he spotted Sakura as she busily went from room to room and carried supplies from place to place, stopping and talking to patients and doctors briefly on her way. Her green eyes spotted him moments later and looked at him curiously. He smiled and made his way over to her.

"Hey Naruto, it's surprising to see you here." She greeted, smiling back as she slowly set down several rolls of gauze and tape she had been holding onto a small cart. "What's up?"

Naruto shrugged, "Nothin' really, just came by to see you."

The medic-nin gave him a sidelong glance, but continued on, pushing her cart of supplies down the hall. Naruto followed without pause, watching Sakura and passersby's with little interest. "Today is Kakashi's first day at school," he commented suddenly.

Sakura glanced back at him smiling, "It is, isn't it? I'm sure he's excited about that." She entered a patient room, picking up a clipboard, and scrawling down numbers from the monitors.

"Mm, yea…" Naruto trailed off, gazing out the patient's window, "You think he's okay?"

Sakura gave a small laugh, not looking up from her task, "Naruto, this is Kakashi we're talking about. I'm sure if anyone tries to give him a hard time he'll hit them right back."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at that.

* * *

Kakashi walked casually through the halls, rambunctious kids running around him, many giving him strange looks. He made sure to pointedly ignore them. When he finally reached his classroom, it was filled with hopeful ninja-to-be, all chatting with their friends from the previous year. A large group of kids gathered in the center, laughing and joking. A few were sitting quietly or sleeping. He chose the back left corner, it was quiet and it didn't seem he'd be distracted by other students in that area. He was hardly noticed as he climbed up the steps and took a seat in the very back row, next to a quiet, sleeping boy. He quickly pulled out his notebook and two, finely sharpened pencils, ready and excited for class to begin. He clenched his tiny fists; this was the first step to becoming an actual ninja and serving Konoha. He would study hard and become the greatest ninja there ever was just like –

A paper ball suddenly hit him in the side of the head. He snapped his head to the source, a loud red haired boy, one row down and five seats to his left, who held the class's attention. He glared metaphorical daggers.

The boy threw his head back and held his stomach to keep it from bursting with laughter. When he contained himself he smirked at little Kakashi, "What's a shrimp like you doing in a second year class?"

Kakashi glared harder. The only things he could think of to say would likely make him sound more childish. He decided to work on his comebacks that night.

"Why don't you just go back home to your mommy so she can feed you some milk and then tuck you in for nap time, okay?" The rest of the class joined in the chorus of taunting laughter.

"Alright, alright, everyone take your seats so we can begin." A young looking woman entered the room and dropped her books on the table with a resounding thud then turned to survey the room.

Kakashi examined her closely. She was certainly not what he was expecting in a teacher. Young, fit, stern, attractive. She was wearing navy ninja attire with a black belt and shoes, and her black hair was pulled up in a bun. She seemed better fit for active duty than teaching academy students.

Someone whistled at her from the very back of the room. Her eyes narrowed and a piece of chalk flew through the air and pelted the perpetrator in the middle of the forehead. He whined as a few students snickered.

"My name is Ohta Toshiko and I am the new second year teacher. I will tolerate no disrespect and I expect you all to study hard and do well. If you do this, you will enjoy this year. Since I'm new here, and don't know any of you, let's start by going around the room and saying your name and one thing you like to do."

Each student stated their name and something about themselves, starting from the front. Kakashi dutifully memorized each person's names and made a note of each person's comment. The red haired boy, he found out, was named Hideaki and was the class clown. Eventually, it was the turn of the boy next to him, who was fast asleep. Kakashi discreetly kicked the boy's leg. He looked up with groggy eyes and examined the room.

"We're going around and sharing our names and something we like," Ms. Ohta supplied unsympathetically.

"Oh, uh Taichi and I like sleeping."

"I hope you don't get used to sleeping in class, Taichi," Ms. Ohta replied as she relined against her desk, arms crossed, "or you will find yourself spending many afternoons in detention with me."

"Tch," he lazily rested his head on his hand.

Ms. Ohta's gaze turned to Kakashi. "My name is Kakashi, and I like taijutsu training with my brother."

"Don't you mean potty training, shorty?" Hideaki teased. The entire class burst out in laughter and Kakashi blushed behind his mask, glad for its protection.

"That's enough!" Ohta yelled, "Hideaki, if you'd like detention on the first day of school, then keep it up."

The class quieted and she took a moment to look at Kakashi who seemed unphased, besides the way he kept close to himself. "Kakashi, how old are you?"

Kakashi glanced around at all the eyes that were zoned in on him. Weary of more teasing, he spoke quietly, "Four."

Quiet whispers started up. He ignored them as best as he could.

Ohta's face lit up in recognition, "Oh right, you're the kid who's taking second and third year classes this year. Isn't this your very first day of school today?" Ms. Ohta meant well, Kakashi thought. He nodded mutely. Chattering raced through the class about him. "Everyone, make sure you help Kakashi out and show him the ropes around school, okay?"

"Yes, sensei!" The class chorused.

"Good, now let's review what you've learned last year. Can anyone tell me the hierarchy of ninja in the village?" She turned towards the chalkboard and began writing.

Everyone's hands went up.

Somehow, Kakashi knew it would be a long morning.

* * *

Naruto left Sakura to her work after a while and made his way to the library, hands in pockets and lost in thought. When he arrived, the librarian welcomed him and asked if she could help him with anything and, when he asked, she led him to the section about Konoha's history. He skimmed through the titles of books and picked out one called _ The Yondaime Hokage: Namikazi Minato_ and _Jutsus of the Kages_. He sat down at a nearby table and began to read.

The time ninja had been on his mind constantly. He still felt guilty for losing Kakashi a second time to them. He had vowed to himself to never let it happen again and there was only one way he could think of to keep Kakashi safe, and that was to learn Namikaze Minato's most famous jutsu, the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"To activate this seal the user needs a special seal or "technique formula" to mark the destination. The Yondaime placed his seals on kunai that were then thrown…" Naruto mumbled out loud to himself. He leaned back in his chair and scratched his head. The time nin attacked in less than 10 seconds the second time. With the amount of time they spent with one hit, he'd have to throw a kunai and it hit its mark in less than 2 seconds, a nearly impossible speed. He glanced at the clock.

"Oh shit," he snapped the books closed and checked them out before jumping up to the rooftops and making his way towards the academy. It was lunchtime and he was curious as to how little Kakashi was faring. Naruto found the little silver-haired boy eating his lunch on a bench by himself in the shade. Naruto half-smiled as he peered down at him from up above in a tree, one arm holding on to the borrowed books. It wasn't altogether unexpected for him to find little Kakashi eating alone during lunch, although he had hoped his young sensei would have ventured out and tried to make friends. Then again, it didn't really fit Kakashi's personality to do so.

Three kids walked over and began talking, standing in front of Kakashi, who barely paid them any attention as he continued to eat the sandwich that Naruto had packed for him. "Shorty! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" one of the kids in the center, with wispy red hair shouted as he snatched the food away. Kakashi stood and glared at the older boy, his head only reaching the boy's shoulders "Give it back, that's mine."

"What, this?" Hideaki asked, waving the sandwich just out of his reach.

Kakashi nodded.

Hideaki smirk and took a big bite from it before throwing it on the dusty ground. His sidekicks, a small, mousy haired girl and a tall boy with glasses laughed along.

Naruto made to jump down to fend for his former sensei, but was stopped by a hand grabbing his arm. He whipped his head around to look at the offender; Ohta Toshiko, Kakashi's second year teacher. He had met her once before, when he had come to meet both of Kakashi's teacher's before the boy had started school. Then her brown eyes were kind and helpful, now they were stern and serious. "You've got to let Kakashi do this for himself. If you jump in to help, he'll only be picked on more."

Naruto reluctantly relaxed and Takashi's hand released him. They both turned their attention back to the scene below.

Kakashi stared down at his half eaten sandwich, now sprinkled with dirt as tiny red ants began crawling towards it. It was his favorite kind of sandwich; his older brother had packed it especially for him. That was the part that angered him the most.

Hideaki laughed and shoved Kakashi's chest so that fell roughly to his butt on the bench, and then walked towards the rest of his class. The mousy haired girl trailed after Hideaki and the boy with glasses soon followed after sweeping Kakashi's lunch box off the seat, dumping the remaining food to the ground.

Kakashi sat there several moments, staring at his lap. He hated being bullied just because he was younger and smaller than them. Then bell rang then, suddenly, and all the children funneled back to class. He didn't want to be late; he picked up his lunch tin and headed inside, leaving his food to be devoured by the little red ants.

**Author's Note: ** Hey guys! Aren't you proud of how quickly i whipped this one our compared to the last 2? I ran into a writers block near the end and it took me three days to finish the school part oTL maybe because i was free ballin' it x) Bear with me. I hope you enjoyed it; send lot's of comments, because they get me through my writer's blocks and motivate me to write :)

Anyways, let me know if there's anything you guys especially want to see put into this story or if your brilliant minds come up with any good ideas! I want to write what you guys want to read, so send those requests my way!

P.S. If you ask super nicely, I might even draw you picture from this chapter - might

Bamm


	5. Running on Fumes

**When Time Stops  
**Chapter 5: Running on Fumes

He walked slowly to his next class with the third year students. By the time he had reached his class, his empty metal lunchbox and school bag in tow, the halls were empty and bell had already rung. He stood outside his classroom door for several moments, preparing himself for more bullying since these kids were older than the last and likely to bully him more for his size and age. Rubbing his sleeve across his eyes quickly, he stood up straight and entered the door proudly, eyes hard as he quickly analyzed his new surroundings. He could handle whatever was thrown his way; he was a Hatake – strong – and an Uzumaki – brave.

The class grew quite as he entered, all eyes turning to him, including a brown haired academy teacher with an old battle scar across the bridge of his nose.

Kakashi bowed at the waist to his teacher, "Excuse me, sensei, for being late to class!"

Iruka stumbled on his words, "That's quite alright, Kakashi. I'm sure it's confusing here, being your first day."

Kakashi stood and nodded once, glancing over at his classmates who were still staring and whispering. Iruka followed his gaze, "Ah right, class this is Hatake Kakashi. He will be joining our class every day after lunch."

"Yes, sensei!" the class chorused.

"Now where to seat you…" Iruka mused, scanning the desks for an empty seat.

"Over here Iruka-sensei!" A bright eyed girl squealed, pushing a friend from the chair next to her.

Iruka sighed, shaking his head, but motioned for Kakashi to take that desk.

Kakashi moved quickly to his seat, pulling out paper and his two finely sharpened pencils. He placed them delicately on the desk in front of him.

"Kakashi-chan, how old are you?" the eager girl next to him inquired, smiling brightly. The other nearby girls leaned in curiously too.

"Four," Kakashi replied quietly.

A chorus of 'aww's came from all the girls and his friendly neighbor squeezed his masked cheek. "Kakashi-chan you are just too cute!" she squealed.

"And smart too!" another girl called out.

When the girl finally released his now sore cheek, he grimaced, rubbing the pain away. "I'm Ayame, by the way."

Iruka watched the girls swarm Kakashi and watched, more intensely, Kakashi's reactions to all his surroundings. It was hard to grasp the fact that Kakashi was once again four years old child. No longer was Kakashi the serious, skilled copy ninja and pervert he was used to, but now he was a quiet and ambitious ninja to be. Fond memories clouded his mind of his close friend and now he was the only one to remember them. He smiled a soft, sad smile. "Alright class, let's get back to work."

* * *

"Kakashi," Iruka called, grabbing the boys shoulder as he was leaving at the end of class with the rest of the students.

The boy stopped, curious eyes staring up at his teacher, "Yes, sensei?"

Iruka offered the boy a packet of paper. "This is our lesson from the first half of the day. I trust you'll study it and do the homework for tomorrow."

The boy nodded, taking the papers. As he turned to leave, his teacher called him again.

"Kakashi, if you need any help keeping up, don't be shy to ask me, alright?"

"Sure, sensei." Kakashi replied before hurrying out of the academy to meet his brother.

Iruka sighed and sat at his desk to grade the quizzes his class had taken so that he could see how much each of his students knew. Kakashi's was on top; he had been the last one to turn his paper in. He had worried about the boy since it had taken so long for him to finish, but now he understood why. The boy had answered every single question, whereas he had encouraged his students to skip anything they didn't know. Although Kakashi had answered several questions wrong, he was surprised at how advanced little Kakashi was. He shouldn't have been surprised, however. Kakashi was, of course, a prodigy.

* * *

"How's the homework coming Kashi?" Naruto asked, setting the two plates of food down on the table.

"Fine," the silver-haired ninja replied, still furiously writing in his assignment book with his messily scrawled handwriting. "Ohta-sensei and Iruka-sensei gave me a lot of work to do since I have to teach myself what the others learned in the half of the class I'm not there…" the boy trailed off.

"I see," Naruto mumbled as he chewed a mouthful of salt-broiled saury. "Eat your food Kashi."

Kakashi gave an audible sigh before closing his book and pushing them to the side. "Thanks for dinner."

"Yup," Naruto replied evenly, "It's one of your favorites, right?"

Kakashi nodded and, after pulling down his mask, took a bite, "Hey, Naruto-nii, I was looking ahead in my textbook and found someone in there like me. His name is Uchiha Itachi. It said he was a prodigy and graduated the academy in one year too."

Naruto hummed softly but kept his eyes on his plate.

"Well," Kakashi continued, ignoring his brother's lack of response, "Neither of my books went into much detail about him, not like any of the other prodigies at least. So I went to the school library but there wasn't any more information on him there either. I was wondering if you knew anything about him?"

Naruto was quiet a moment, "Itachi…was a prodigy in his time, as was his younger brother. The reason he's not in any of the books at school is because Itachi is a traitor. He massacred his entire clan and left the village to join a rouge group called Akatsuki. That's all you need to know, now eat your food."

Kakashi frowned but finished his plate quickly so that he could finish his homework and have time to practice his chakra control before bed. Half an hour later, he thought it strange that his brother brushed the subject off and hadn't been his normal cheery self since. It was a brief thought, however, and he quickly reigned his mind in to focus on his schoolwork.

* * *

The bell rang for lunch and Kakashi slowly trailed after his classmates, leaving his metal lunchbox behind. When he arrived outside, he found his enemy in the center of several students. It had been the same for the past several days; Hideaki's fiery red head the center of many of the student's attention. Kakashi watched silently from the top of the three stairs outside the school doors. He observed his prey as he had been since his first day of school, when Hideaki and his friend's had started bullying him. The way Hideaki threw his head back when he laughed and the way his blue eyes sparkled when he was being mischievous Even the subtle way he shifted his feet on the floor while storytelling. Kakashi stepped down the steps and walked towards the group of rowdy, laughing kids. His gait was quick and silent. He pushed his way through the children and they moved, wondering what would happen next. Finally, the silver-haired ninja reached the center of the group. Hideaki stood alone in the center, all eyes on him until Kakashi moved forward. The four year old stopped right in front of the red head, ignoring their height difference. A face of determination was painted over what was left to see of Kakashi's face and a look of amused curiosity washed over Hideaki's.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Hideaki jeered. He grinned, moving into a relaxed position with his hands on his sides.

"I challenge you to a duel." Kakashi stated bluntly, nearly cutting the older boy off.

Hideaki bellowed with laughter and his crowd followed suit.

Kakashi glared angrily at how the older boy brushed him off. He didn't want to be treated as a lesser being by his classmates and today he knew he was going to prove himself better than everyone who had been laughing at him. He fingered the kunai that were hidden in a pocket in his pants.

"I'm not going to duel you, Shorty, I'm way out of your league!" Hideaki laughed.

Kakashi's steely cool face hid his anger inside well. Inside he was seething. No one was going to belittle his strength without a fight. In an instant, he threw a kunai at Hideaki. Not his wooden practice ones his brother had bought him, no, he had secretly borrowed Naruto's kunai. "Fight me **now**!"Kakashi yelled, running forward and pulling out another kunai to wield.

Hideaki caught the weapon from the air, eyes wide in surprise and his laughter gone. He was forced to quickly block as Kakashi swung at his side from the right. "What are you doing?" Hideaki demanded seriously, holding the younger boy off in a standstill.

Kakashi locked fierce, determined eyes with Hideaki's shocked ones. "If I win, you stop making fun of me. If you win, you can do whatever you want to me."

Hideaki scowled but Kakashi jumped back again, throwing one, two, three kunai as he ran around the berth of the circle. The other children quickly backed away, not wanting to interrupt or get injured.

Hideaki blocked and dodged out of the way, running toward the silver haired boy. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Shorty!" He swung at Kakashi who nimbly ducked out of the way and jumped back. The two ran at each other, holding their kunai ready to strike. As Hideaki swung, Kakashi dove to the ground, sliding under the older –and taller—boy's legs, turning on his back and shoving the red head hard on the backside with his feet.

Hideaki stumbled forward, flailing his arms wildly to regain balance. He caught himself and spun around in time to block an attack as Kakashi ran and jumped at him. Hideaki shoved Kakashi to the ground knocking the kunai out of the young Hatake's hand. Kakashi reached for another weapon, but Hideaki jumped on him before he could pull one out.

"You might be faster, but I'm definitely stronger than you, Shorty!" Hideaki growled. He clenched his hand into a fist and swung, hitting Kakashi solidly on the left side of his face.

Kakashi's head whipped to the right with the force of Hideaki's fist. His cheek was bruised and he had bitten his tongue. Blood pooled in his mouth but he swallowed it so that his mask would not be soiled.

Hideaki grabbed Kakashi's mask, "Hmm, I wonder what's behind here? Is there something you're embarrassed to show us?" The red head shoved the navy blue material down to Kakashi's neck. Kakashi acted in rage without thinking. He collected as much chakra as he could into the palms of his hands and thrust them against Hideaki's chest. He let the collected chakra explode from his hands as he hit the older boy, throwing him up and several feet back.

Hideaki lay on the ground in shock from the burst of chakra. They all had learned about the importance of chakra in grade one but they weren't supposed to learn how to use it until later this year. Hideaki's eyes were wide, staring at Kakashi. "H-how did you…" he trailed off.

Kakashi glared daggers at the older boy as he stood to his feet and shoved his mask back up. He pulled a kunai from his pocket and threw it in an instant towards Hideaki. It landed several inches to the left of his head with a dull thump as it imbedded itself into the ground. "Don't you **ever** touch my mask again, asshole." Kakashi warned with a deadly voice.

Ohta-sensei ran over then, breaking through the crowd of students (which had grown much larger by now). "Boys! That's enough! You both have detention with me after school today, and I'm calling your parents right now!" She yelled, giving each a stern look and picking up the metal kunai strewn about the ground.

Hideaki picked himself up and dusted himself off."Hai, sensei," He mumbled gravely. Kakashi glared and walked towards the school. His classmates and other second years gave him a wide berth. An overwhelming sense of accomplishment filled him, turning his stomach upside down. He had shown Hideaki, and everyone, that he wasn't some helpless little baby. He was sure no one would pick on him anymore. He gathered his things and went ahead to his next class, a proud smirk hidden beneath his mask.

He hurried to his third year class and sat in his desk even though there were still at least fifteen minutes until class started. It wouldn't hurt, he thought, to preview the text for the upcoming lesson. Eventually the bell rang and students dutifully filed into their assigned seats. No sooner had Iruka collected all the homework a blond ninja burst through the door.

"Naruto-kun…" Iruka stammered, shocked at the abrupt entrance.

Naruto froze, smiling abashedly, "Ah Iruka-sensei!"

"What are you doing here?" The teacher asked, hoping the interruption wouldn't take too long.

Naruto's disposition grew serious, "Kakashi's second year teacher just notified me that he started a fight with a classmate during lunch – with **real** kunai." Naruto looked pointedly at the silver-haired boy.

Kakashi stood abruptly and slammed his hands on the desk, his chair screeching back. "Nii! It wouldn't have proved anything if I had used training kunai! I had to steal them from you this morning and I was going to put them back as soon as I got home." He stood and folded his arms, "It's not like I hurt him anyways, I made sure to throw my kunai 7 centimeters away from his head like you told me to do when trying to intimidate an opponent!"

Whispers started up all around the classroom.

"I don't care how much control you have, you know the rules. I was in an important meeting with the Hokage when I was called down here, and now you and I have to go speak with your teacher."

Kakashi packed his books and pencils into his bag with a scowl and walked silently to the front of the classroom.

"Sorry for the interruption Iruka-sensei," Naruto called back as Kaakashi walked down the stairs and towards the door.

"Kakashi, what have you got to say to Iruka-sensei?" Naruto demanded, arms crossed.

Kakashi pushed down his emotions and steeled his face as he bowed low, "Sorry for the interruption, Sensei."

The two left, Kakashi walking angrily a few steps in front of his brother. He didn't understand why Naruto had gotten so mad at him.

"Kakashi," Naruto called. The boy ignored him. He jogged a few steps, grabbing the boys shoulder, spinning him around "Kashi…"

Kakashi glared at him.

Naruto sighed and squatted to the boy's level, "Kashi, I think it's really great that you stood up for yourself."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Look, just trust me, ok?" The blond winked, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "I was the number one trouble maker when I went to the academy so I'm also the best at getting out of trouble."

A small smirk crept up on Kakashi's hidden face.

"Common," Naruto stood and began walking, "We've got to go speak with Ohta-san."

Kakashi turned and followed, trotting behind his big brother until they reached his classroom.

"Ohta-san," Naruto started after knocking on the classroom door and she had come out into the hallway, "I'm terribly sorry for the trouble Kakashi caused today. He's normally not like that." Naruto's tone and expression held a sad disappointment.

Kakashi made sure to keep his head down. He didn't want to ruin whatever his brother's plan was.

The woman gave a sympathetic smile, "I'm sure he's had a rough time, starting school and being the youngest in class, right Kakashi?"

Kakashi stared at his feet and fidgeted uneasily.

"Kakashi, answer your teacher when she asks you something." Naruto scolded.

"Yes, ma'am…" Kakashi mumbled.

"However," the woman continued, "starting fights is not allowed in the academy, especially using kunai. Someone could've gotten hurt!"

"But, I made sure—" Kakashi rebutted. He wouldn't be accused of being reckless. No, he had planned and calculated several times.

"Ohta-sensei, I'll make sure Kakashi learns his lesson. Don't you worry about punishing him. What I've got planned for him will be much more effective than detention." Naruto cut in.

Kakashi glanced between his teacher and brother.

"Good," Toshiko nodded, "We've only been in school for five weeks, so I hope we won't have an issue like this again, Kakashi-kun. Now, I've got to get back to my class. If you'll excuse me."

The teacher turned and retreated into her classroom.

"Yes!" Naruto cheered, holding his hand up for a high five, "We did it, Kashi!"

Kakashi smiled and high-fived his brother.

"Just make sure that next time you have to fight someone you don't get caught, ok? That's your newest shinobi rule to live by."

Kakashi laughed and nodded, "Hai, Nii-san."

"Now hurry back to class, kiddo." The blond urged, ruffling the boys hair.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I've been writing so much this past 1-2 weeks. Maybe because I have so much other things to do (it's called super procrastinate schoolwork). And! since my want to draw is completely filled and more simply from my 3 art classes this semester, i don't really want to do it at home, so I just write instead x)

Anyways...The next chapter is pretty much finished (4000 words written so far, i guess thats a good chap size?) and nearly another chapter of _Afraid of the Dark_ is finished, plus 1-2 chapters of an original story. Its crazy. How I managed to write so much confounds me. I think I'll wait a little while to post the next chapter so that you guys don't skimp out on comments! I like feedback to know if the story is going on the right track :) Again, and ideas/comments/suggestions are appreciated and taken into consideration.


	6. Edge of Sanity

**When Time Stops  
**Chapter 6: _Edge of Sanity_

Kakashi yawned, standing, just barely, in the middle of one of Konoha's training fields. The morning was young and darkness still encompassed them. The ground was wet with dew, and the plentiful greenery was motionless in the absent breeze.

Naruto had brought Kakashi out early before school to train, as he had many times in the months since beginning the academy. Naruto had explained that it was never too early to begin training, it would help him come graduation.

"Ready?" Naruto asked after briefly stretching his limbs.

Kakashi groggily nodded, shifting into a lazy fighting stance.

"Kage Bushin!" Naruto called, preforming the seals. Three identical clones popped into existence. They all ran at Kakashi, throwing punches and kicks.

Kakashi fended them off dutifully, attempting to push past his tiredness and focus on the task. He blocked a kick aimed at his head and whirled around to stop a punch but received another in his side, then face as his focus dropped.

"Focus, Kakashi, don't let your guard drop even when you're hit," one of the clones instructed.

Kakashi jumped out of the way of an oncoming hit, jumping from foot to foot to weave around his four opponents. The clones kept at him, pushing him farther away from their starting point as he defended against them as much as his tired body would allow. He managed to block the kicks and punches aimed at him until his back bumped into a thick tree trunk. An unforgiving punch caught him off guard in the gut and he doubled over as the air inside of him was forced out.

"Come on!" the Naruto in the back yelled, pushing the clones out of the way. They disappeared with a pop. Naruto grabbed Kakashi's arm and pulled him upright. Kakashi glared up at him, still clutching his gut. "What's wrong with you today?" The blond demanded, his face was hard and relentless. The blond's blue eyes pierced into Kakashi's. Kakashi only ever saw that sort of expression on his brother during training. At first it had surprised him but he had grown used to it after the first couple weeks of training.

"It's hardly a fair fight," Kakashi rebutted holding his angry glare, "it's four against one! I'm only four years old and you weren't even holding back."

Naruto laughed short and amused, "Not holding back?" A blue ball of whirling wind formed in Naruto's hand and struck above kakashi's head before the boy could blink. The leaves and branches shifted in the artificial wind.

Kakashi shielded himself and leaned away from the blast, looking back towards the trunk of the tree in surprise once the force had died down. The dent of missing bark in the tree trunk was nearly three inches deep and wider then his head.

"You would die in an instant if I didn't hold back, Kakashi."

Kakashi looked away, embarrassed at himself for underestimating his brother and being so arrogant. "It still wasn't fair..." he muttered.

"Tell me, Kakashi, if I were a group of enemy ninja, would I care if you were small and weak? No, because my job would to kill you and would be easier because of it." Naruto continued, his tone softening as he went on. "I will train you as I would any other academy student, based on your skill level and not your age."

"Hai, Nii-san," Kakashi resigned.

"Why don't you do your chakra exercises for now?" Naruto suggested, taking a seat at the base of one of the trees.

Kakashi wordlessly turned toward one of the undamaged trees and focused his chakra to his feet. He took several steps up it and jumped off, landing feet first on the solid ground. "Nii-san," he started, standing up again, "why are you always so serious when we train? I won't be in actual combat for a while still." Kakashi frowned in thought, adjusting his mask. "Is it because that night...when those ninja attacked us and took me? Is that what you're worried about?" He glanced up, waiting for his brother's answer.

Naruto sighed and was silent for several moments, "If you want to ask questions about that, then you'd better be standing on the side of a tree."

Kakashi sighed and dismissed the issue from his mind until later. He knew and, of course, Naruto knew that he wasn't quite skilled enough with chakra to stand on the tree and talk. He was still trying to focus on staying up there, let alone splitting his attention.

* * *

Naruto awoke late on a brisk Saturday morning to birds chirping, the commotion of villager through his thin window pane as they went about their business around town, and the warm early spring sun rays that lit up his room. He was quite surprised Kakashi hadn't woken him up already and asked to go training. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his hazy blue eyes, and stretched his stiff limbs. He wandered into the bathroom to relieve himself and take a quick morning shower to wake him before shuffling his way to the kitchen.

"Kashi?" Naruto called, glancing at Kakashi's school books which had been left untouched since the previous night. He opened the cupboard and began boiling water for tea and a morning bowl of ramen. He chased away the nagging voice in his head that was telling him to check on Kakashi in his room. He was sure that Kakashi's little body just needed some extra rest. He had, of course, been training and studying non stop since entering the academy. Naruto took his ramen and tea to the table and sat down after it had finished cooking, but his worry preoccupied him. Instead of eating, he twirled his chopstick around in the ramen mindlessly, shifting his glance from Kakashi's books to his room to the window in front of him, giving him a view of the rooftops of the city. Eventually, he stood and padded down the hallway to Kakashi's room and crept open the door.

"Kakashi?" Naruto yelled, eyes wide with panic and his heart dropping to his stomach,

Inside the small room, filled sparsely with furniture and the essentials to ninja training, Kakashi's bed lay empty with the sheets thrown aside in a twisted mess.

Naruto didn't care about his own wellbeing at that moment. He didn't stop to think about the effects of his new Thunder God Technique (a technique that was still in the trial and error - more so error - phase, even after three months of training with clones). Before he knew it, he was preforming hand signs and had appeared in Sakura's living room, doubled over. He realized that in his frantic haste he had missed one hand sign. He hoped he hadn't left behind an organ.

"Sakura," his strangled voice called out. He coughed up a mouthful of blood into his hand and reached for the nearest support ( Sakura's living room couch) to help him stay on his feet.

Sakura wondered out of her bedroom, a puzzled look on her face, carrying a pile of dirty clothes that she had been about to wash. The instant she recognized her teammate doubled over, the pile fell to the floor and she rushed to Naruto's side. "Naruto!" she exclaimed in horror, grabbing onto him arm to help give him support, "What the hell happened to you?"

"Nevermind me!" Naruto ground out, standing up as straight as he could and pushing away the kunoichi. His face contorted in pain and his teeth ground together to keep in a pain filled yell. "He's gone," he finally replied after he could swallow down his choked tears of pain and worry, " I woke up this morning and he - I couldn't find him anywhere!"

The pink-haired kunoichi's face dropped, "Kakashi?"

Naruto shook his head and stumbled towards the door, "I have to go find him!" He opened the door and started running down the street, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and checking down each alleyway.

Sakura, barely able to take in the situation, pulled on her sandals in a heartbeat and followed her blond friend out the door, racing as fast as she could to the hokage's tower to alert Tsunade of the situation and recruit more help searching. She hadn't even bothered to shut the door in her haste out.

* * *

It was a beautiful Saturday morning, Iruka thought as he strode through Konoha's streets. He loved Saturdays like this. The wind was a bit chilly, left over from winter, but the streets weren't terribly crowded. Not to mention he didn't have to worry about any of his students. It was one of his rare days to himself, without other duties, and he had decided to brush up on some old skills from before his teaching days. He was...rusty, to say the least. He begrudgingly had to stop training a few hours earlier than he had hoped due to exhaustion.

It was about an hour until noon as he rounded up his gear and started back on the path to Konoha. A nice, hot shower and a steaming bowl of the leftover tempura domburi he had prepared the previous night awaited him at home. The thought alone quickened his step.

He spotted a familiar silver hair student - friend - that pulled him away from his musings and into slightly different ones. He had been teaching his old friend for several months now, but each day that Kakashi came to school Iruka still could not comprehend that it was the same Kakashi that he had always known, grown up with, and looked up to.

"Kakashi-kun," Iruka called with the warm smile of a teacher and mentor, waving his student down.

Kakashi glanced over with piercing eyes, heavier than Iruka had seen in him since their childhood. They unnerved him like they had thirty and some years ago. They were very much the opposite of Kakashi's carefree and happy, if determined eyes that Iruka had seen in Kakashi only the day before.

Kakashi sighed deeply, stopping in front of the older man and looking up at his with an annoyed expression of impatience.

"What are you up to today?" Iruka asked, trying to shake off the shivers down his spine looking into those grey, hallow eyes.

"I'm training," the boy replied bluntly, staring down the brunette. His impatience was clearly evident through the way he crossed his arms and continually shifted his weight from foot to foot, or how he glanced longingly towards the wide open training fields.

Iruka smiled and scratched his head, laughing, "I just finished training, though I'm ashamed to say I could use some more work! Where's your brother? I figured you'd be training with him. I thought you enjoyed how much he pushed you."

Kakashi gave the teacher a questioning look, "What are you talking about, you know I don't have a brother." The boy shook his silver head of hair at the wasted time and started past Iruka.

Iruka frowned. Something, he felt, wasn't quite right. He spun around and tugged on the young boy's shoulder, "Wait, Kakashi-kun."

Kakashi spun around, frustrated at the delay when he could be training, and slapped Iruka's hand away. "I don't have time for your silly games today, Iruka!" He snapped, shocking them both.

Kakashi's eyes grew wide and the harsh seriousness from before disappeared from his demeanor. He fell back a step, watching the older man's shocked and hurt expression. "S-Sensei..." he muttered softly.

It took a moment for Iruka to collect himself enough to think clearly. "Kakashi-kun, are you alright?" He asked gently.

Kakashi glanced around slowly, examining his surrounding with a slight frown. "I..." he started, still trying to work things out in his head. He tried shaking away his confusion to no avail. "I don't know what I'm doing here."

Iruka pursed his lips in worry, ushering the boy back towards town by the shoulders, "Common, Kakashi-kun, let's get you home. I'm sure Naruto is looking for you."

Kakashi nodded and let his teacher walk him home.

When they arrived, the silver-haired boy led the way inside. He looked around the open kitchen and living room, finding only a luke-warm instant ramen on the table and a cold cup of tea.

Iruka shut the door and took of his shoes before following his student in, finding it quite strange that Naruto, of all people, had left his precious ramen. 'He must be really worried and left to look for Kakashi,' Iruka thought. He decided to clean up the left over food and wait with Kakashi until Naruto eventually returned.

"Naruto-nii!" Kakashi called, running from the kitchen down the hallway to Naruto's bedroom doorway and then his own, peering inside both carefully. He shuffled back to the kitchen and sat down quietly at the table. "He's not here. He's probably out looking for me..." Kakashi mumbled to his sensei. He felt guilty for worrying his brother, even if it was unintentional and he hadn't realized he was doing it. He didn't know what was wrong with him. What he had thought earlier was so different to how life actually was. It wasn't normal and he wondered as to the cause of it.

"Don't worry about it, Kakashi-kun, it's not your fault." Iruka's warm hand on his shoulder was comforting and Kakashi allowed himself to smile behind his mask.

No sooner had Kakashi wished for his brother to hurry home, a certain blond ninja came through the front door, followed by a pink-haired kunoichi.

Naruto froze in the doorway, causing his teammate to bump into him from behind.

"Umph! Naruto, you idiot, don't stop in the middle of the door way so suddenly." She berated with fake anger.

Naruto could not force himself to move, standing there and looking at his sensei - no, he was more than a sensei now. He cared for the boy as much as if he were his own younger brother.

Kakashi looked up at the door upon hearing the commotion. "Nii-san!" he exclaimed, jumping off his chair and barreling into his older brother.

Naruto kneeled down and hugged his silver-haired charge with the worry that had build up inside of him, trying not to show just how worried and hurt he was. "Kakashi, where were you?" He asked after several moment, finally releasing the boy and staring into his young grey eyes.

Kakashi looked away, fiddling with a button on his shirt, "I don't...Iruka-sensei found me near the training grounds...I'm sorry Nii-san!"

"I was so worried about you..." Naruto hugged Kakashi again with as much vigor as the first.

Sakura smiled with relief from the doorway. "I'll go alert Tsunade-sama and stop the searches." She said before running off and out of the building.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked, holding Kakashi out at arms length and looking him over for injuries and finding none.

Kakashi nodded.

Naruto smiled and slowly moved over to take a seat at the table with his academy teacher. "Kakashi, why did you leave this morning without at least telling me?" Naruto asked, looking into Kakashi's eyes.

Kakashi looked away, "I didn't mean to, Nii-san..." he trailed off.

"You're not in trouble, I just want to know why?" Naruto coaxed, ruffling Kakashi's hair.

Kakashi shifted his weight uneasily, "This morning I woke up and remembered there was no school today. I don't I really remember leaving but just wanting to train. It seemed like nothing else was as important as me being out on the field training to get stronger, to prove myself." Kakashi paused and sat in the empty seat next to Naruto. He avoided looking at Iruka who sat directly in front of him and instead studied the grain of the table. " I felt...sad, deep down. I don't know exactly why. There was this pain, deep down inside me, but when I try to remember it my mind goes blank. I didin't remember having a brother." Kakashi sheepishly glanced at Naruto and continued his story when the blond's face remained the same. " And I thought," Kakashi shook his head, wondering how he could have made such a mistake, "that Iruka-sensei was one of my classmates. I remember talking with him at school, we were studying together - really he was asking me for help on the homework - but, today I was determined to train as much as I could and didn't have time for talking. It made me angry when Iruka-sensei tried to stop me. Then, everything just came back to me...I don't understand it. Is it some mind controlling jutsu?"

"I don't think so," Naruto spoke up quickly.

"I don't know who would want to mind control an academy student." Iruka comforted with a smile. He hadn't been told much about Kakashi's situation, only what was needed for him to teach Kakashi. What Kakashi described though, it fit exactly how he remembered Kakashi used to act when they were growing up together. It rekindled many memories from his childhood. It made him curious as to what exactly the effect of the jutsu on Kakashi were and he made note to ask Naruto about it later.

"I'm sure it was just a dream; you must have been sleep walking, kiddo." Naruto forced out a laugh. Only Iruka and himself noticed how fake it sounded.

"I think I should be going, now that you've returned, Naruto-kun." Iruka stood, " I've had a full morning of excitement and a warm meal and shower await me at home."

Iruka showed himself to the door, reminding kakashi of his homework to which Kakashi replied that it had already been finished. Meanwhile, Naruto stood slowly and made his way to the couch, staggering slightly.

"Nii, are you okay?" Kakashi asked after his teacher had left, noticing his brother's limp. He followed the blond to the couch curiously.

"Yea I'm fine, " Naruto reassured with a smile, "just sprained my ankle when I was looking for you. It's really no big deal. Sakura will be back to heal it soon." He eye smiled, knowing Kakashi wasn't able to see through his mask.

Kakashi eyed his brother carefully, "Okay..." he said, sitting on the very edge of the couch beside Naruto."I'll make lunch for us then?" he suggested, bouncing up to his feet.

Naruto smiled and nodded and Kakashi left to the kitchen to prepare a meal.

It wasn't long before Sakura returned, first glancing at Kakashi and then making her way to Naruto on the couch. The blond lay, stretched out over the length of the god awful orange sofa, one hand clenching the fabric over his midsection and the other hung carelessly over his face. Sakura knelt down next to him, "Are you okay, Naruto?" she glanced towards the kitchen, making sure Kakashi couldn't see them over the countertops.

"Fix me," Naruto groaned in a rough whisper, not moving an inch.

Sakura pursed her lips and removed Naruto's hand from over his stomach. "What stupid thing did you do that Kyuubi couldn't even heal you, Naruto?" she berated him with a harsh whisper. Her hands began glowing and hovered over Naruto's midsection. "Your spleen..." she started, her expression one of amazement, "it's ripped to shreds. What the hell did you do, Naruto?" Her furious expression was opposite the careful healing touch in her glowing hands.

"It's a new Jutsu," Naruto answered, wincing as his spleen was knit back together.

"If the Kyuubi weren't here to save your life, you would've fell over in my living room and died Naruto, DIED!" Sakura nearly broke her whisper and looked towards the kitchen, pausing to listen to Kakashi rummage through the cabinets.

"I know, I know," Naruto replied, he finally moved his arm and looked at her. "It was my dads Jutsu, the Thunder God Technique." He paused, watching her surprised and curious expression. "I've been practicing it for several months but I just can't figure it out yet...I always manage to disfigure myself somehow. This time worked better than any of the other times I've tried though..." he mused, reaching towards the coffee table for a pen and paper.

"Lay still!" Sakura snapped.

"You see," Naruto continued, as if not hearing his pink-haired teammate, "this time I was in such a rush that I forgot one hand signal. Sure, it tore up my insides, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Maybe if I slightly modified the hand seal..." Naruto mused, scribbling his ideas down on the scrap of paper.

"I would hate to see what it looks like when you remembered the seal..." Sakura winced.

"It's sure not pretty," Naruto smiled, "My clones complain every time we practice."

"Yea, I'm sure," she grimaced, knowing that Naruto experienced mentally everything his clones did if only without the physical repercussions. She pulled her hands back and let the glow fade away. "All better. I'm going to go help Kakashi with lunch now."

"Yea, okay," Naruto nodded, furiously scribbling on the paper, quickly filling it up.

She stood and made her way into the kitchen, leaving Naruto to his brainstorming. "Hey, Sakura," he called after her only a moment later, standing and following her into the kitchen. "Do you mind hanging out with Kakashi today? I've got to, uh, do some errands," he supplemented, waving his sheet of scribbles when she looked at him questioningly.

She nodded, "Yea, sure, me and Kakashi can hang out, right?" she elbowed him playfully.

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and nodded, "but, I have to get some studying done today."

Sakura smiled at Kakashi's determination.

"Thanks! I'll see you later then. Stay out of trouble, Kashi!" he yelled back, already rushing out the door.

Soon after lunch, Kakashi pulled out his books (the ones he had borrowed from the library, not his school books since he had already finished his work) and set to studying at the table. The past few days studying had been difficult for him, however. He constantly pondered why Naruto acted so much more intense and unforgiving during training than normal. He knew his brother enough to know that something was up. It wasn't in his brothers personality to naturally be that way, even if Naruto was trying to push him. In addition to that, Naruto had seemed extra worried about him. Granted, anyone would be worried, but he though Naruto had freaked out. "What's wrong with Naruto?" he asked suddenly, disrupting the silence.

Sakura paused from doing the dishes, wondering if Kakashi had heard her and Naruto talking while she was healing him. "What do you mean?" she asked, playing it off.

"I mean," the silver hair boy started, looking up in thought and fidgeting with the top of his mask, "during training he's always so...he pushes me really hard. I mean it's good, because it'll make me a stronger ninja, but I don't understand why."

" Maybe because he wants you to be safe" she suggested, knowing how much Naruto worried for their young sensei. "He won't always be there to protect you, you know."

"But Naruto-nii is a really strong ninja!" Kakashi rebutted, "Stronger than I even know. He showed me some kind of wind technique the other day during training, it was really incredible."

Sakura smiled, know which jutsu Kakashi was talking about, "He is strong, but there is always someone who is stronger than you. Ninja are always learning and creating new jutsu, so you can never truly say that you are 'the strongest' or 'the best' ninja. It's simply impossible." She glanced up at her former sensei to judge his expression. His mind working intensely to figure out some unknown thought as he mindlessly twirled his pen.

Kakashi read over several sentence from his strategy book and scribbled down a note, "Those ninja, the ones that attacked me and Naruto, they're the ones that are stronger than Naruto?"

Sakura hummed, wondering how to answer kakashi's question. "Yes," she spoke slowly after a moment of thought.

Kakashi frowned and made scribbles on his paper, "Are they after me?" he asked carefully "I don't remember what they did...but they took me last time. Are they going to come back? Is that why Naruto-nii was so worried today?"

Sakura dried her hands and leaned against the counter. She nodded slowly, "Yes, that's one of the reasons Naruto pushes you to become as strong as you can and why he trains every day to get better."

Kakashi nodded slowly and continued reading.

Sakura walked over to her former sensei, wondering at how backwards life had become, "Naruto and I will do all we can to protect you, Kakashi-kun. We would die before we let them take you again."

Kakashi looked up to her, studying her with eyes that seemed nearly too knowing for his age. "I know, Sakura, but last time 'all you can do' wasn't enough." His words hung heavy in the air with truth and struck Sakura painfully, though she wouldn't show it. "I need to get stronger too," Kakashi continued, turning back to his book, "I won't be so weak that you and Nii have to die for me."


	7. Drawing Straws

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, here's your next chapter. I hope you enjoy it! I even drew a little sketch for you, of Naruto and Kakashi about when Kakashi enters the academy. Its not perfect, but what the hell x) **http :/ fav .me / d4wbxgg**

PS. I have found it troublesome to try and keep up with Kakashi's age and make it match perfectly with the real events (mainlybcauseI'vealreadymessedup) so from now on if (and I know it will be) Kakashi's 'real age' at the time of events such as when he gets team members and takes the chunin exam, just pretend that it's right, okay? okay. For instance, in the chapters soon to come, Kakashi will get his teammates and take the chunin exam and I know he's probably older in his 'real life' but we're all going to pretend that its all the sameee.

PPS. I've secured a job yay! I'm a server and hostess at a tapas bar. It's fun and everyone's really chill :) Get to tastes all the martinis and watch belly dancers and dance when the DJ is playing. It fits in nicely with my schedule too (i work mainly from 6p-2a). It's not to blame for the lateness of my chapters though, that's mainly due to school with final exams, presentations, and papers for 6 classes. But that will be over come May. I'm super excited! Thank you all for the reviews!

I expect you all to review on this chapter, I know how many of you there are! lol Tell me what you think of Kakashi's sensei and, what you think (or hope) will happen next in the story. Happy reading :D

**When Time Stops**

Chapter 7: Drawing Straws

Naruto staggered through the door, covered in sweat and dirt. His mind and body were both thoroughly exhausted from a day of intensive training. He shuffled through the house to his room with barely enough energy left to lift his feet off of the floor. He set his load of books and scrolls on the table next to his bed and collapsed onto his bed. A heavy sigh escaped his lips, tired but satisfied with his progress with his thunder god jutsu. He had been experimenting with the revised hand sign he had happened upon earlier that day when Kakashi had disappeared. He had run into some major failures, of course, such as clones accidentally leaving behind a heart or it's intestines, even the entire lower half of his body. None of the memories had been too pleasant once the clone had popped out of existence, but that one had been the worst of all. He shuddered just thinking about it. Each of them was an accomplishment in a way, though. It was a trial and error learning process. It's not to say that all his efforts had turned out badly, though. He had managed to complete the jutsu with only minor injuries that Kyuubi had been capable of healing. It had been his main accomplishment and breakthrough for the day and filled him with a wave of encouragement. It was with this thought that his body forced him to finally fall asleep from exhaustion, soft snores escaping him.

Kakashi quietly slipped out of his bed, having been woken up by the closing of the front door and someone walking through the house. He opened his door and peered down the hall into the living room. Finding nothing, he crossed the hall to Naruto's room, the sound of his feet padding against the floor loud to his own ears. He found his brother sprawled out on the bed, still wearing his filthy ninja gear and clothes.

Sakura had left him some time ago as she had been called to the hospital for an emergency and Kakashi had been left by himself, wondering just where his brother had gone off to. By his brother's dirty appearance and exhaustion, Kakashi inferred that Naruto had been training all day. He started to retread to his own room when the books on Naruto's bed side table caught his attention. The books had not been there before the blond had come home and he was curious what exactly his brother had been training so hard for and why he had left so suddenly earlier that day. His features shifted of their own accord into a curious frown and tip toed across the room to the side of Naruto's bed. He gingerly lifted the scroll on top and Naruto snored loudly, mumbling incoherently and shifting. Kakashi froze, eyes darting to carefully watch his brother to see if he would wake. After several moments he turned back to the scroll, examining the writing on the outside. A seal he had never seen locked its contents from his prying eyes. He set the scroll aside and examined the stack of books. The first one read 'Theories of Atomic Structure pertaining to Healing Techniques.' There was only one bookmark sticking out from its many pages.

Kakashi wondered what his brother would be doing with such a book. It seemed like something Sakura would be more likely to read, not Naruto. He flipped the cover open to the bookmarked page which had been filled completely in the margins with barely legible scribbles. Naruto had circled a small paragraph only a few short sentences long, from which all the notes came. "Transferring techniques..." Kakashi whispered under his breath. His eyes dropped from the sections title to a couple lines which had been underscored many times. "The only advancement in transferring organs came from the Yondaime Hokage who theorized that by connecting healing jutsu to long range summoning techniques, one could transport organs or entire bodies over large distances for medical help. His theories include the use of seals. No other data could be found." Kakashi's thoughts were spinning as he read. He shut the book quietly and moved on to the next. The second book was titled Yondaime Hokage. He passed over that book in favor of the third, a book of forbidden jutsu. The corner of one page was folded down and he quickly turned to it, becoming more and more curious as he wondered what exactly his brother was doing with all this information and how he had acquired a book of forbidden techniques. He scanned the tagged paged until he stopped with wide eyes on the jutsu he knew his brother was learning - the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"Kakashi," Naruto's stern voice startled him from his stupor, causing him to flinch. He berated his ninja skills for not paying attention to his surroundings. The silver -haired boy looked towards his brother who had woken up and was staring at him with a frown and intense blue eyes. The blond quickly took the books from Kakashi's grasp, standing and walking across the room. "You should be in bed." The blond placed the books inside a drawer in his dresser and placed a seal to lock them in place.

"A-are you really trying to learn the Yondaime's technique?" Kakashi asked speculatively. He and his third year class had learned all about the Yondaime, the village's hero, and his techniques which had caused enemy ninja to flee with their tails between their legs upon sight of the fourth Hokage.

"Common," Naruto's feet dragged sleepily across the floor and his eyes were heavy lidded as he ushered Kakashi back to his room.

"No one but the Yondaime can preform that jutsu. The Third forbid is because it was so complex and dangerous to the user." Kakashi continued, unperturbed by his brother being so tired and trying to get him back to bed. Kakashi crawled into his bed, allowing the blond to pull the covers up over him and tuck in the sides. "No one else has ever done it before, besides-"

"This is top secret, Kashi." Naruto butted in. He looked over his former sensei's young, innocent and curious features, trying to picture the same emotions playing out on the face of the Kakashi he once knew but finding it strangely difficult and taxing.

Kakashi grew silent, nodding once slowly.

Naruto half smiled and stared at the boy for several moments longer. However young, he knew that Kakashi understood the importance of secrecy as a ninja. It didn't worry him too terribly. He knew the silver-haired boy wouldn't let out his trump card for fighting the time ninja. He ruffled Kakashi's silver hair once before shuffling towards the door.

"Nii-san," Kakashi called just before Naruto could close the door to his room.

The blond pause and looked back at his little charge.

"Can you really do it - the Thunder God Technique?"

Naruto couldn't help but smile a little. He raised a single finger to his lips and winked. "G'night Kashi."

Kakashi's mind was whirling as his brother shut the door and went back to bed. He could hardly believe that his brother - his own brother! - could preform the Yondaime's most feared and difficult technique. His previous idea of his brother's strength was washed down the drain. If his brother was truly that strong, he was sure that Naruto would be able to defeat the time ninja. Even so, he was determined not to be so dependent and fight for himself. Several hours had passed before his busy mind allowed him to fall back asleep.

* * *

"Hey Granny," Naruto greeted as he stepped into the Hokage's office.

"Ah, Naruto, how's your training going?" she asked as she continued to signing and reading the file she had before her, biting back a comment about her age and resisting the urge to throw the tall morning's stack of papers at the younger blond.

"Eh, not too bad..." he drawled, coming to a stop near the door.

Tsunade looked up to him, wondering why he didn't come fully into the room. In an instant the younger blond threw a kunai directly at her. She gasped, wide-eyed when the blond disappeared and reappeared only a few feet in front of her desk before she could even realize it.

Naruto's eyes met hers, a wide range of emotions playing out on his face. First was a grin, but it quickly turned to a shocked grimace as he gasped, stepping forward but, unable to hold his own weight, leaved heavily on the desk. Blood pooled in his mouth and dripped slowly down his chin from each corner of his mouth.

Tsunade stood up abruptly, knocking over her chair. "Naruto!" She yelled, nearly falling over the table to reach out to him.

Naruto coughed, splattering blood onto the desk and the papers covering it's surface. A cloud of smoke engulfed him and he popped out of existence.

"It still needs a bit of work..." Naruto frowned.

Tsunade spun on her heel to the blonds voice. She found Naruto easily lounging in the window sill, staring painfully without really seeing the spot where his clone had been as the memory of the injury washed over him.

Tsunade sighed heavily, clutching her beating chest. Pulling her chair upright she fell into it heavily. "God, Naruto, don't scare me like that!" She berated, trying to calm herself and her worry. She glanced up to the young man who had not moved and was still staring into space, although she was sure his brain was turning furiously. "Well, I'm glad you're at least making progress."

"Hn, yeah," Naruto agreed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking in front of her desk. "Slowly, but surely. Sorry about your desk." He offered, noticing the splotches of blood.

She waved his apology away, noting his fading disposition due to the clones painful end. "Unfortunately," she started, digging through one of her mounds of paper and pulling out one particular folder. She held it out to him, "I'll have to distract you from your studies for a while."

"A mission..." He uttered slowly, taking the offered folder.

"An S rank mission, but you'll be able to handle it. I'm sending Shikamaru with you. It's an infiltration and information gathering assignment, but a good chance of a fight. I'd guess it'll take a good week or two to complete."

Naruto looked up sharply, "Kakashi's graduation is next week."

Tsunade grimaced, leaning back in her chair, "I know. You've been on leave for a while though and I really needed to give you this mission. I've got my hands tied behind my back with the Elders. I trust you to protect Shikamaru; Konoha can't loose a strategist like him."

Naruto sighed heavily, "I guess I'll go break the news to Kakashi then."

Tsunade nodded, "You'll leave in the morning."

* * *

Kakashi stood in a line of his third year peers. He was next up. Glancing sideways, he noticed that he wasn't the only one nervous. Student's fidgeted from foot to foot, fiddling with buttons and practicing hand seals. They had all taken the written exam the previous day and passed. Those who hadn't - there were only two - were forced to retake the year. Now, they only had to pass the jutsu portion of the exam before they were all promoted from mere academy students to genin of Konoha.

He turned back to looking at the door, behind which one student was displaying his skills for a panel of three judges. He was ready, he knew that he was, although he wished that his brother hadn't had to leave on a mission and miss several days of training. He had trained with Naruto on far more difficult exercises than these academy level jutsu, but being tested worried him. He had never before been graded on his skills and that alone made him nervous.

The door to the testing room suddenly opened in the dead silent room. The girl that had been inside walked out slowly, looking just as nervous as when she had entered, shooting glances towards all of the kids looking at her before leaving to go home.

"Hatake Kakashi," one of the instructors called.

Kakashi steeled his nerves, unwilling to show his weakness to these teachers who were grading him, and entered the room with his head held high. He shut the door after himself and made his way to the center of the room, his cool grey eyes studied the panel of judged, two of whom he did not know but had seen around the academy.

"We will grade you no differently than any of the other students simply because of your age." One of the instructors who sat on the far left spoke suddenly in monotone without glancing up at the boy as he scribbled something down.

Iruka smiled at him, "Do your best, Kakashi-kun."

"First we would like to see the shadow-clone technique," the first ninja spoke again. He had yet to glance up.

Kakashi nodded once in acknowledgement. "Shadow-clone technique," he spoke, forming his hand into the required seals as he had practiced countless number of times in the past few months.

* * *

Iruka stood at the front of the class going on (and on) about how proud he was of them all for passing the jutsu exam the previous day and how he expected them all to serve Konoha well and live up to their new rank - genin.

A hint of a smile grew on Kakashi's lips as he looked around to his third year classmates, all wearing brand new Konoha hitiates. He had graduated. Kakashi wiggled in his seat, a futile attempt to keep his excitement and curiosity in check.

"Hatake Kakashi!"

The silver-haired boy snapped his eyes to his teacher, pulling himself away from his musings.

"Pay attention." The brunette chunin snapped, continuing on in his speech. "Unfortunately, our graduating class has an odd number of students to fit perfectly into three-man teams. Therefore, you will be on a team by yourself, Kakashi-kun."

Kakashi frowned, pondering the implications of his lack of teammates. "Sensei," Kakashi started, tuning out the class's loud whispering, "I thought genin were put into teams of three so that they will develop team work and use each member's skills to the fullest. Why am I the one who has to go without a team?"

"That's true, however, because of your age, the Hokage has decided that you will be given a team in a few years to lessen the age gap." Iruka explained evenly with a sigh. Somehow he knew this would happen.

Kakashi fumed inwardly, trying to hide his emotions behind his mask as any decent ninja should be able to; his attempts were futile. There was only one thing that really truly angered him, and that was when people judged his skills based off of his age. The entire year he had been coddled and treated like a five year old, not like a third year student in the academy. "But, Sensei! I'm just as capable-!" Kakashi yelled, standing up and bracing himself against his desk.

"It's out of my hands, Kakashi." Iruka interrupted, sternly staring down the boy. He didn't much like being yelled at and talked back to by one of his own students. "Now, sit. Down."

Kakashi growled inwardly.

The class was silent, probably silent enough to have hear him, and was intensely watching the staring battle between Kakashi and Iruka.

"Who's my sensei - do I even get a sensei? Maybe, I'm too young to be taught at a genin level, huh?" he spat, folding his arms over his chest as he continued to stare down his teacher.

Iruka rubbed the bridge of his nose, warding off the beginnings of a headache. "You obviously are too young to handle some things, Kakashi. Now that you are a genin, I could report this immaturity of yours as subordination." He waited a few tense moments, letting his words sink into Kakashi's thick skull. "The Hokage hasn't yet decided who will be your sensei-"

"This is bullshit!" Kakashi yelled, descending the stars of the classroom towards the door with a simmering anger.

The class and Iruka were silent at the vulgar words that came out of such a young mouth and the, usually quite, boy's outburst.

"Anyways, I'll read off the genin teams now," Iruka resumed as Kakashi left the room to aimlessly walk the streets of Konoha until finally deciding to vent his anger through training.

It was well after dark when kakashi finally allowed himself to stop training, falling into an un-ninja like heap at the bottom of a large tree to catch his breath. He had worked away his anger, though part of him still felt slighted. He had come to realize that he would get a different sort of missions than other genin teams. His missions would most likely not be centered around open combat, but infiltration, information gathering and diplomatic missions. It would give him time to get stronger and give him experience in an area that the genin teams wouldn't for quite some time. He would just have to work on his team work later.

He rest his head back against the tree with a soft 'thump' and glazed lazily through the shifting leaves overhead. In the darkness, he hardly noticed the change in light when his eyes slid shut slowly and his worn out body fell asleep.

The ANBU dropped to the grassy field of the training ground, the sound of his landing sounding more like the slight breeze that had been blowing that night, his white porcelain mask glowing like a second moon in the darkness. His keen eyes shifted to a small boy - his charge - resting nearby with a messy tuft of silver. He approached the boy lightly. The kid, Kakashi, had fallen asleep an hour or two ago and he had decided that the boy wasn't going to wake up again that night.

Once standing over Kakashi, he looked over the boy. He had been told of Kakashi's condition; it had come as something of a shock to him. He had heard of the famed Copy Cat ninja Hatake Kakashi who had once been one of the most elite and capable ninja in ANBU. Now, Kakashi lay sleeping, his mouth hung open slightly, sucking in small breaths of air which caused his small chest to rise up and down; a messy head of hair (that, for one, looked nearly the same); the childish and innocent features of a child who had never taken a life; and two perfectly grey eyes. The ANBU slid his arms under Kakashi, careful not to wake him, and held him close against his chest. A soft chuckle escaped him; he really couldn't see the kid being one of the most elite and deadly of Konoha's elite squad. Shaking his head at the notion, he made his way, unseen, back into the village and to the Uzumaki's apartment.

Kakashi woke bleary-eyed and confused to his own room the next morning. His ninja clothes and gear were still on and smelled disgustingly like sweat and dirt. He rolled out of bed, forcing his sore muscles into submission and walked into the living room. "Naruto-nii?" he called, wondering if his brother had returned from his mission, found him, and brought him home. The bedroom, living room and kitchen were quiet and empty, the only sound being the pattering of his own feet and his own breath.

"Hatake-san," a voice spoke unexpectedly.

Kakashi spun around to the voice that sounded behind him and stopped short. In front of him, in his own living room, crouched one of Konoha's ANBU, the Hokage's elite ninja. His mouth gaped open in aw and his eyes shone as he stared at the ANBU's silent, fluid movements and ghost white mask as if he were a civilian child entering a candy shop. "Hai?" he managed to mutter.

"Hokage-sama wishes to see you. Please make your way to the Hokage tower."

Kakashi nodded, not trusting his voice and wondering if he had been assigned a team after his outburst in class the previous day.

The ANBU disappeared in an instant before he could even think to blink. He ran into the bathroom, already pulling off his gear. He had to be descent to meet the Hokage of the Village of Leaf and get on her good side, he was, of course, going to be one of her best ninja once he was a little older. He would prove himself to the Hokage and to everyone else who doubted him because of his age.

* * *

"How was your mission?" Tsunade asked lightly, sipping at the tea her assistant had brought her.

Naruto laughed, "I thought you said it was an S rank, seemed more like a C rank to me. I mean, really, Granny, when are you gonna give me something challenging?"

"Mah, you would say something like that, Naruto," Shikamaru grumbled, playing with the cigarette in his mouth and itching to light it. "So troublesome."

Tsunade smiled, "Ah, well, we'll see. I'll expect your report by tomorrow morning."

"Yea, yea," the blond waved her off, rolling his eyes. "I gotta go, Granny, gonna try and catch Kakashi before he leaves to meet his team - I'm assuming he passed easily, I mean, how could he not since I trained him?" the blond rambled animatedly.

Shikamaru nodded, following Naruto to the door.

"Actually," the Hokage interrupted, suddenly shifting through her papers. She pulled one out finally and scanned over it for several moments. "I would like both of you to take on a genin team this year."

"Wha-?" Naruto's smile faded as he stared questioningly at the Hokage.

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his temples

"You're one day late to meet your teams, but in this case I really don't think that will matter too much."

"This is too troublesome..."

"Me? A genin sensei? Are you going senile, old lady?" He dodged a book that was thrown at his head as he spoke. "I don't know if I can handle molding a team. I mean, Kakashi-sensei beat us over the head with teamwork all the time and look at us now..."

"That was a peculiar situation, Naruto. I'm sure you won't have any difficulties like that. Shikamaru, your team will be waiting for you to test them tomorrow morning at ten on training ground three."

"Hai, hai," he voiced, nodding his head once and waving over his shoulder as he left.

"What about me?" Naruto urged, crossing the room to stand in front of Tsunade once again.

A knock sounded at the door, cutting her short. "Ah, that would be your team now." She smiled, folding her hands on the desk in front of her. "Come in!"

Naruto turned around as the door opened and a small boy stepped in slowly. "Kakashi?" Naruto questioned, looking to Tsunade with an unbelieving and questioning glance. Tsunade merely nodded in response, looking back to the boy.

"Naruto-nii," Kakashi exclaimed as evenly as he could upon seeing his blond-haired brother standing in the center of the Hokage's office. His brother's clothes were dirty and traveled in, he could even smell the forest on him from a few feet away. He imagined that his brother had just returned from his mission. "Welcome back!" He smiled behind his mask, something Naruto could pick out only after several months of living with the boy.

Naruto smiled, glad to see his kid-sensei once again and noticing the shiny new hitiate on the boy's forehead. "You passed! Good job, Kashi, I'm proud of you!" He smiled and congratulated.

Kakashi beamed and he walked to the center of the room with his brother, glad to have done something to make Naruto proud of him and Naruto ruffled the mop of hair on his head. After a moment he remembered where he was and bowed low to Tsunade, "You called for me, Hokage-sama?"

The blond woman smiled, softening her features as she spoke, "Well I'm glad Naruto hasn't corrupted you with his disrespectful manners yet." It was still strange for her to see the jounin Kakashi that she was used to ordering around, always late and reading adult novels, in the body of a child with a young ninja's attitude. "I must apologize for not having a team or sensei for you yesterday. It's my understanding that you got quite upset in front of the class."

Kakashi blushed furiously and was glad for his mask's protection. His feet shifted nervously but he kept his eyes fixed on the old lady even as he felt Naruto's gaze on him.

"Anyways, I've chosen a sensei for you," she said, motioning to Naruto.

"Huh?" he questioned, wide-eyed and looking up to his brother.

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head, "How about that, Kashi?"

Kakashi was silent for several moments, looking from his brother to the Hokage and back. Finally he spoke, closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. "Okay, you can be my sensei because you're pretty much the strongest ninja I know, after you, of course, Hokage-sama," he began.

Naruto smiled at Kakashi's statement and the boy 'accepting' him as a sensei. It was just like Kakashi, the blond thought to himself.

"However," the boy continued, looking at his brother seriously now. Young grey eyes met older blue ones. "I have two conditions. One, during training and mission you can't call me Kashi, or chan, only Kakashi. This is to reinforce my second condition, that during training and missions you can't base your decisions off of me being your brother, but a qualified genin of Konoha who has earned his right to join Konoha's ranks."

Naruto stammered, pretending to look hurt. "But, Kashi-chan!" The blond whined, "You are my little brother and I have to take care you!" Naruto grabbed the serious looking young boy and squeezed him in a too-tight affectionate hug. Naruto smiled as Kakashi protested and tried to wiggle free.

"Really, Nii!" Kakashi shouted over Naruto's cooing and continued to push against his brother's chest and extricate himself from the blond's grasp.

"You two..." Tsunade muttered with a warm smile at the boy's antics.

Naruto finally let go of Kakashi, who made a show of straightening his clothes and gear. "I accept your offer, Kakashi," Naruto started seriously, "I would be honored to teach a Hatake." He held his hand out in offering.

Kakashi smiled up at his brother and grabbed the blond's hand, shaking it resolutely.

"Ok! We'll go get our first mission tomorrow! Today, we will start with a bowl of ramen to celebrate my return home and get right to training!" Naruto cheered, pumping a fist into the air and marching animatedly out of the office.

Kakashi's smile grew and he bowed quickly to Tsunade, muttering a hurried "Hokage-sama" and followed his brother, half jogging to catch up.

"I'm interested to see what will happen with you two...Team Uzumaki," she muttered to herself, standing and walking to one of the windows lining her office to look out over her village.


	8. Time Arc: An Innocent Mistake

**When Time Stops**

Chapter 8: _An Innocent Mistake_

**6 months later**

Kakashi plopped down at the kitchen table with heavy eyes as Naruto bustled about the kitchen, fixing a quick breakfast. A small pug, with short tan fur and a dark wrinkly mug trotted after Kakashi and folded up underneath his feet, closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

"Good morning, Kashi!" Naruto greeted cheerily as he set breakfast on the table for Kakashi and continued to the kitchen, cleaning in a frenzy.

"Hn," Kakashi grunted, slowly starting to eat the offered meal.

Naruto paused to watch his little brother. Kakashi had never really been a morning person. The sight of kakashi in the mornings amused him. He walked to the young ninja and ruffled his silver tuft of hair. "I've got a meeting at the Hokage Tower again today, Kashi," Naruto announced as he hurried back to the kitchen to clean the last of the morning dishes.

Kakashi hummed in acknowledgement at his brother.

"Go with Pakkun to the Missions Office after breakfast."

"Hai."

"When you're done with that, you can go to the academy for sparring. Iruka-sensei's class should be sparring today, I'm sure he won't mind...much." The blond continued, shouldering his Jounin vest and strapping on his sandals.

"No, Ni!" Kakashi, spun in his chair with a scowl on his young features and lips pulled tight in anger. "I hate sparring at the academy," he wined, "it's not even a challenge for me, besides I've already graduated! Why do I have to keep going back?"

Naruto had to keep from smiling at Kakashi's unhappy face. He loved being able to see Kakashi's expressions in the morning before they were covered by that blue mask of his. Naruto shrugged. "Because you need practice working with a team and sparring different people than just me."

"I'll spar with my pack then! Me and Pakkun against the whole pack!" Kakashi suggested, nearly standing in his chair as he pleaded his case.

"You need practice with 'humans,' Kakashi. Sparring with the pack is just fine, but you have to fight differently against animals than humans. You're going to the academy and that's final." Naruto concluded, walking to his charge and kissing the top of his head. "Do your best Kashi, I'll see you later today," he ruffled the boy's hair one last time before hurrying out the door.

Kakashi huffed loudly and turned back to his food.

Pakkun stretch and jumped to an empty seat and then to the table and sitting in front of Kakashi. "He makes a good point, pup."

Kakashi shot a scowl in the dog's direction. "You're not supposed to take his side, Pakkun. I thought you were MY nin dog."

The pug examined his paw and licked it until he deemed it clean enough. "I can still think for myself, and I agree with Naruto-kun. It is good to practice sparring at the academy until you get your own teammates."

Kakashi stuck his tongue out at the dog who raised a wrinkly eyebrow.

Pakkun shook his head, "Come on, pup, lets get going before everyone gets around to picking up a mission." He jumped off the table and headed to the door.

Kakashi took his bowl to the sink and followed Pakkun, strapping on his shoes and pulling up his mask before leaving with the dog out of the apartment and through the streets of Konoha.

Kakashi trudged down the dirt path towards the Hokage tower, hands shoved into his pockets. Villagers smiled and greeted him but he barely cast them a glance in his fowl mood. He kicked a pebble as he walked, which flew and hit Pakkun's rear end, who was walking just ahead of Kakashi.

Pakkun barked in shock from the offending pebble. "Watch it, pup!" he growled, turning and looking at the young ninja.

Kakashi looked pointedly away, "Sorry."

They continued walking in silence. Kakashi sighed finally, "Not only do I have to go to the academy to train, but I'll get a stupid mission because I'm with you. Why can't Naruto-nii take me on a dangerous mission to fight rogue nin in Rock or Rain country?"

"I take offense to that..." the small dog grumbled.

* * *

Kakashi stood at the end of the academy training ground watching the students spar each other while Iruka traveled from group to group, correcting stances, giving advice and intervening when necessary. He spent several minutes watching each group as they sparred, their clumsy movements and attacks using the few techniques that the academy taught students.

Kakashi sighed heavily, not looking forward to his encounter with his old 2nd year classmates. He walked forward towards the group and stopped just outside the group. Several of his former classmates stopped to look at him, some with confusion and surprise and others with scowls. "Iruka-sensei!" He called from his spot, arms crossed while Pakkun dutifully sat next to him.

The brunette teacher paused and looked up, a smile growing on his face. "Kakashi-kun!" He made his way through his students who had completely stopped practicing and followed their teacher to crowd around the young ninja and dog. "What brings you two here? How are you Pakkun?" Iruka asked pleasantly.

"Just fine, thank you Iruka." The dog replied evenly.

The students whispered about the talking dog, their eyes wide in surprise.

Kakashi's visible features were masked in apathy, "Sensei sent me here to train."

"Oh," Iruka uttered unintelligently, "Well that's fine, I guess you wouldn't have many opportunities to fight as a team. It'll be interesting for my students as well." He smiled and turned to his students. "Get in groups of three! Your group will fight each team, tournament style, until one group is declared the winner. The winning group will have no homework for the rest of the week."

The students hurried into groups as Iruka turned back to his visitors. "Unfortunately, you will not be allowed to use your ninja weapons." Iruka informed, eyeing Kakashi's full pouch of metal kunai.

Kakashi sighed, rolling his eyes and unstrapped his kunai pouch, handing it to Pakkun and folding his arms in front of his chest.

The dog scowled, "All of your weapons, pup."

Kakashi shot a scowl at the traitorous creature. He extricated two kunai from his sleeve, several senbon from the bottom of his sandals, and a spool of wire from one of his pockets.

"That's more like it. Well, I'll leave him to you, Iruka." The dog announced, picking the gear up from the ground.

Iruka nodded, "Thank you, Pakkun, it was nice seeing you again."

The dog disappeared in a puff of smoke, holding the weapons in his mouth.

"Alright, Kakashi-kun," Iruka smiled, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders and leading him forward, "Luckily we have a student missing today, so you will fit nicely into a group with Hiroshi and Tana." Iruka stopped in front of two students, one a tall, lanky girl with formal clothes, dark black hair that was no longer than her shoulders, and pale eyes while the other was a boy just a bit taller than himself with brown hair and unremarkable features. The teacher left quickly, noticing two groups arguing.

"I thought you graduated..." Hiroshi spoke evenly.

Kakashi barely wasted his time squinting his eyes at the offending words.

"It's nice to see you again, Kakashi-kun," Tana smiled.

Kakashi managed to smile a bit beneath his mask at her words. He remembered Tana as always being polite and nice to him, though she usually spoke very little. He glanced at the teams around them, many of which were chatting. He rolled his eyes, looking back to his temporary teammates. The two of them were talking quietly.

"So, what now?" Hiroshi asked, looking to Kakashi with doubt.

"We need a strategy," Kakashi nearly cut him off. "What are your skills?"

Hiroshi stammered, "What are yours?"

"Tracking, strategy, taijutsu, and chakra control." Kakashi replied, unfazed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Hiroshi frowned, obviously put out that Kakashi was skilled at more than he was despite their age difference, "Well I'm good at the clone technique and transformation technique."

Kakashi nodded, looking to Tana.

"I'm good at genjutsu and I have the Byakugan, but I'm still learning to use it properly.

Kakashi nodded and thought only a moment before Iruka started assigning opponents and hollered at them all to begin.

"So what's our plan?" Hiroshi asked as they faced their opposing team.

"Just follow my lead," Kakashi instructed, already going through a set of hand seals.

* * *

"Well, well, Shorty, I never would've thought that you and your thrown-together team of misfits would make it to the final round against MY team," the older redhead sneered in the way Kakashi remembered all too well from his school days.

"I'm not here to talk, Hideaki. My sensei sent me here to train, but its been more like a day off." The silver-haired boy replied as he shifted into a fighting stance. His teammates followed suits, having figured out that Kakashi actually knew what he was doing, despite his young age.

Hideaki scowled, "You're going down this time, midget!" His teammates, the small, mousy haired girl and tall boy with glasses voiced their agreement.

The six stood still for the shortest of seconds as the rest of the class and Iruka watched them before Kakashi ran forward, shunshining past Hideaki and diving to his hands, trowing his feet out to sweep out the mousy girl's and glasses boy's feet from underneath them. The two gasp as they fell to their butts, scrambling to dodge out of the way of Kakashi's next attacks.

Hideaki spun to follow Kakashi and nearly forgot about Kakashi's two teammates as they came upon his backside. He spun on his heels, managing to block Tana's first attack and countered Hiroshi's kick with a kick to the midsection.

Hiroshi backed up, gasping to catch his breath again and attacked Tana, entering a dance of blows with her until he managed to hit her solidly across the face. He turned to run towards Kakashi who was easily beating up his teammates. "Kakashi!" he yelled, stopping several feet in front of his rival.

Kakashi stopped his fight and turned towards the older redhead, carefully watching mousy girl and glasses boy from the corner of his eye.

The two boys suddenly ran at each other as if at a signal, Kakashi concentrated chakra to his fist and arm, strengthening his muscles and hardening his fist. He threw the first punch, to which Hideaki blocked with the side of his arm. Kakashi's fist landed with a loud crack and Hideaki's eyes widened with pain, but Kakashi didn't let up and instead used the opportunity to push Hideaki back and keep him on the defense. He noticed his teammates regain their composure and collide with Hideaki's teammates in a fairly even battle. HIdeaki stumbled on his feet tripping backwards. Kakashi crouched and swept his foot into Hideaki's causing the boy to fall onto his back with a loud thump. Kakashi' jumped onto him, and aimed a punch towards the redhead's throat, stopping short.

Hideaki lay still beneath Kakashi, his eyes wide and breathing heavily.

Kakashi quickly jumped up to help his teammates finish off the last two enemies. After a few minutes, the fighting stopped and Kakashi and his teammates were left standing over Hideaki's defeated team.

"Well done, students!" Iruka congratulated them all. "Hiroshi and Tana, as I said you two won't have any homework for the rest of the week."

Tana smiled and Hiroshi cheered. Kakashi brushed off a patch of dirt from his pants.

"Kakashi, I'll give a good report to your sensei."

The silver haired ninja nodded, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"Now, if the six of you would make the reconciliation seal." Iruka instructed

Kakashi made the seal to his opponents as did his teammates. The mousy girl and glasses boy made the seal as well, but Hideaki scowled. "I'm not making amends with that Shorty!" He yelled, holding his injured arm tenderly.

Iruka frowned, "It was a fair fight-"

The redhead pointed at the stoic Kakashi, "Next time, I'll beat you. You can count on that, Shorty!"

Kakashi sighed. He turned to Iruka, "I should get going, Iruka-sensei. I'd like to find my sensei and drag him to get me a decent mission today still."

Iruka nodded, "Thank you for joining us today, Kakashi-kun."

Kakashi walked towards the academy gates, hands still shoved into his pockets while Iruka took the class inside and sent Hideaki to the nurse.

* * *

Kakashi sat patiently in in one of the many halls throughout the Hokage Tower. He kicked his feet, idly twirling two pebbles in mid-air above his palm using chakra and listened to his surroundings with his eyes closed, training his hearing.

Busy ninja walked past his up and down the hall, carry papers, leading teams or scurrying from one room to another. He didn't bother to look up at them, none of their footsteps matched the sound of his brother's footsteps. Another group's footsteps started down the hall, one person's agile and quiet while the other three were clamorous as they scraped along the floor and fell heavy to the ground with each step. The voices that belonged to the footsteps were juvenile and animated - genin. The footsteps stopped suddenly in front of him, first the silent footsteps ant then the three loud ones. The pebbles he was twirling fell to his palm and he looked up to the figures before him. In front of his stood a genin team, students he remembered from his third year class, and their sensei, a tall intimidating man in white robes with long dark hair and intriguing eyes.

Kakashi looked over them passively as he began to twirl his pebbles with chakra again.

"Kakashi-kun," the tall, dark-haired man spoke with a deep voice.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the man, ignoring his former classmates ogle at his chakra exercise. "Who are you?"

The man smiled, the only break in his emotionless mask, "My name is Neji Hyuga. I'm a friend of Naruto's."

Kakashi nodded and continued staring up at the man, urging him to continue.

"What are you doing here, sitting in the Hokage Tower?" Neji asked. His genin team shifted impatiently behind him.

"Waiting for my sensei. He's been in meetings everyday for the past couple of weeks."

"What about your training?" a small girl with pig tails asked.

Kakashi looked to her, noticing her ninja gear and pack. Looking to the rest of the team, they were all outfitted with gear for a mission out of the village. "I've been training with my sensei's shadow clone, or my summons, or with the third year students at the academy."

"I see," Neji spoke thoughtfully, glancing towards his students.

Kakashi shrugged, "Today I'm making him take me on a serious mission. I've only been getting D-ranked missions everyday because I'm with Pakkun, but no more."

Neji examined Kakashi. He had seen the jounin turned child around town. It was an altogether different experience seeing the silver-haired boy up close and interacting with him. He wondered why Naruto had been neglecting Kakashi's training with so many meetings, though he knew Naruto well enough to know that the blond wouldn't neglect his kid-sensei. "Would you like to come with me and my team on our mission then? Who knows if Naruto will get out of his meeting anytime soon."

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly, "Really?"

"Sensei! What are you talking about?" one of the boy's in the team protested. The others voiced their protests as well but were quickly quieted with a sharp look from Neji.

"Well?" their sensei asked.

Kakashi caught himself for a moment. 'Should I wait for Naruto-nii? Would Naruto-nii approve of this? Neji-san is right though, I don't know when Naruto-nii will get out of his meeting, it could last all day... This is just the sort of mission I was hoping for anyways, a mission that doesn't involve babysitting or searching for lost pets or planting gardens.' Kakashi nodded and hopped down from his chair, "I accept."

Neji smiled again, "Great, come on then. We're on our way to receive our mission from the Hokage herself. We'll leave a message with her for Naruto." He waved them all forward again in their trek down the hallway.

Kakashi shoved the pebbles and his hands into his pockets, eyeing his temporary teammates. The girl seemed the most adept, at least her gait was the least clumsy. One boy had shoulder length hair, messily tied back with some strands falling out and a large scroll tied horizontally to his waist. It must have been filled with weapons, Kakashi thought to himself. The other boy seemed the most incapable of them all as he tripped from foot to foot. From what he remembered of the boy in the academy, he was lively and carefree, but had excellent chakra control.

"I believe you all know each other from the academy?" Neji asked to interrupt the silence that had descended over the group.

"Yea," his team chorused and Kakashi nodded, though he knew Neji could not have seen it.

They soon found themselves inside the Hokage's office. "Team Neji, it's nice to see all of you." Tsunade greeted as the five ninja filed into her office. She eyed Kakashi curiously and looked to Neji for an explanation.

"Tsunade-sama," he greeted and bowed his head. His team and Kakashi followed suit. "We have come to receive our mission. I was hoping, also, to bring Kakashi-kun along for this mission. He told me that Naruto has been in meetings lately and has not been able to take him on missions."

"Ah," Tsunade uttered in understanding. She smiled as she leaned forward in her chair, resting her elbows on her desk. "That sounds like a fine idea, I'll be sure to let Naruto know."

Kakashi nodded, a smile hidden behind his mask.

"Your mission is to escort a carpenter back to his home in the Land of Wave and protect him from thugs and mercenaries that may want to steal his cargo. He will be waiting for you at Konoha's gates."

"Understood," the genin chorused.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Neji spoke as they all turned to leave.

"Oh, Neji," Tsunade called before they could leave. She pulled out a small slip of paper and wrote furiously on it before handing it out to him. "If you would read over this message and relay it to Hiashi. It is of the upmost importance."

Neji accepted the note and quickly read over it. 'Neji, please keep a close eye on Kakashi. The ninja that changed him have come back once before to take him and it is quite possible they will again, though I do not think that is very likely. He is to be watched at all times, especially outside of the village. I will leave him in your capable hands.'

Neji nodded, handing the note back to Tsunade, "I will do as you ask, Tsunade-same."

"Good, thank you. Good luck on your mission, Team Neji." She called after them, turning back to her piles of paperwork.

* * *

Team Neji walked along the dirt path, escorting a rough, frail man with worn, wrinkly skin and a balding head. They were escorting the man back to his home, along with his cart of goods, pulled by a mule who walked with a slight limb in his rear left leg. The genin of team Neji chatted amongst each other, talking about the best way to make a trap and switching between bickering about who was more of an idiot and answering the carpenter's questions.

Kakashi released a large breath and looked up at the sky. They had been walking for several hours and the sun had hidden itself behind dark grey clouds the whole time which had left the earth looking dull and sullen. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply through his nose. It would rain by nightfall, he guessed. He could smell the storm in the air.

"It would be wise for us to set up camp before the rain starts, don't you think?" Neji spoke suddenly from Kakashi's side, causing the boy to look towards the jounin.

Kakashi nodded, "I think it'll be here pretty soon. We probably wont make it to Wave today."

Neji smiled. "Probably not," he admitted to the boy. "We'll stop here for the night and set up camp." Neji broadcasted, causing their group to come to a halt.

"What? I thought this was just a quick day trip, Sensei." The boy with the scroll tied to his pack complained.

Neji nodded, walking to the side of the path, just under the trees, and set his pack down. "It is, but it will rain soon. We're not in any rush and it will be a much more comfortable trip if we're all dry. After we set up camp, well get in a bit of training before the rain comes."

They all set down their packs, building a fire and setting up tarps and tents to keep dry through the night. The carpenter settled by the fire, feeling the cold ache of the rain in his bones as the genin gathered around their Sensei on the wide dirt path.

"You two and I will work on genjutsu, " Neji spoke to the girl with pigtails, who smiled and nodded animatedly, and to the carefree boy.

"Toya, you will spar with Kakashi. Kakashi, I wonder, have you ever sparred with a weapon before?" Neji asked, studying the boy's face. He remembered that the Kakashi from the past had been well instructed with the tanto. He had also heard that Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi's father, had wielded a white chakra blade which he had passed onto his son after his death. Surely Kakashi would have learned how to use the weapon at an early age, shortly after his father's death. He wondered if this Kakashi knew how to wield a similar weapon.

Kakashi shook his head, "Sensei hasn't taught me to fight with weapons other than kunai, senbon and wire yet."

Neji nodded thoughtfully. "Theres no better time than the present to learn. Toya, would you lend Kakashi a tanto. Teach him the basics of using it and then do some light sparring."

"Yes, Sensei!" The boy dropped to his knee, pulling the scroll from his pack and unrolling it. He preformed a seal, bringing forth a tanto as long as Kakashi's forearm. He picked it up gently with two hands as if it were his own newborn child and handed it to Kakashi.

Kakashi accepted the blade, holding it lightly in his hand. He stepped back and swung the blade a few times. It felt...familiar to him; his body acted as if it had been fighting with a tanto all along and his muscles knew how to handle such a weapon.

"I thought you didn't know how to use a tanto," Toya spoke up with a speculative air to his voice, seeing the ease with which Kakashi handled the weapon.

Neji watched Kakashi carefully, wondering as to the full extent of Kakashi's condition and what the boy retained from his previous life.

"I haven't," Kakashi replied evenly, "but it seems easy enough."

Toya snorted, picking up his own weapon of choice and rolling up his scroll to set it aside.

Neji led his other two students away and began training with them as Toya stood with his katana and faced Kakashi.

"Let's just start fighting. When I see something for you to fix then I'll let you know. That seems like it'll be the easiest, ya?"

Kakashi nodded.

Toya began by swinging over his head towards Kakashi, to which the silver-haired boy blocked easily, followed by several strikes at Kakashi's side. Each attach grew more complex, requiring greater knowledge from the defender in order to block each attack.

Kakashi gritted his teeth, blocking an attack, but using the full force of his muscles to hold the opposing weapon at bay. Another disadvantage to being young, he made a note to himself, was that he was much weaker than others at his level. He decided then that he would start strengthening his muscles. Toya swung again and he trusted his instincts and body to block the strike. Their swords met with a loud clank underneath the heavy clouds.

"Like shit you've never used a tanto before." Toya growled, fighting at his normal strength now, trying to outmaneuver Kakashi.

Kakashi ignored the boy and let his mind go blank. He didn't know why his body knew what to do, but for whatever reason it did and he tried not to think about it too much for fear that it would cause him to hesitate and get struck by Toya.

'Good Kakashi, you're learning well.'

Kakashi grunted in acknowledgment, decided to try his hand at offense. He pushed forward, swinging at Toya.

'Now swing with your whole body, not just your arms.'

He did, and his tanto hit Toya's katana with an even louder clang, drawing glances from Neji and the other genin.

The clouds above them thundered, shaking the earth with their power. Kakashi saw the katana coming towards his head, wielded by his blond headed sensei, and jumped to the side, rolling a few paces before he stood and faced his opponent again.

"Where the hell are you going? I'm the one on defense here!" Toya yelled in frustration.

'You fight just like your father, Kakashi-kun' The blond smiled, sheathing his katana at last. He plopped to the ground as if he were a kid and sighed contentedly as he lay in the grass, cool breeze blowing his blond locks.

"I'm nothing like my father, Sensei." Kakashi rebutted sourly.

Toya stared at him strangely, putting away his sword and keeping his distance from the silver-haired boy.

"Kakashi," Neji called as he walked towards the boy.

Kakashi looked up from his thoughts and into the man's pale eyes.

"You seem very adept with the tanto. You should speak with Naruto and ask if he might get you one..." Neji began.

Kakashi listened to Neji, but his mind was preoccupied with watching the other three genin. Toya twirled his finger near his head. "He's crazy, guys, really. He was talking to himself and blocking attacks that weren't from me. Not to mention the kid said he never used a tanto before, but he was keeping up with me easily - ME! I tell you, that kid's nuts."

"Maybe he's so good because he's crazy," the girl whispers, petting one of her pigtails nervously. The three of them shot glances at Kakashi.

He looked away but listened still, his hurt hid behind his emotionless mask.

"I mean," the girl continued, still whispering as if no one could hear her, "We were all in class with him. How can a little kid be that good of a ninja?"

"Well, maybe his ninja skills are so incredible that it's making him crazy!" the last boy suggested loudly, throwing his hands in the air.

Kakashi decided to stop listening in then and returned his full attention to Neji.

"...train with my friend Tenten. You're welcome to come and train with Toya anytime, also."

"Neji-sensei," Kakashi cut in with emotionless eyes, "thank you. I think I'll go back to camp now."

Neji nodded, watching little Kakashi walk back to the camp. He sighed, knowing that the boy hadn't been listening to him at all. He walked over to his genin team who quieted their gossip at his arrival. "Before you come back to camp, you are all to run down to that tree," he pointed to a lonely, fat tree who's base took up half of the pathway, "and back five times."

The genin groaned in complaint and Toya squinted, trying to make out which tree was being discussed in the distance.

"Also, the last person to finish must run down and back twice more."

The genin's eyes widened. The carefree boy took off without warning, sprinting towards the tree. The other two sputtered, taking off after their teammate as Toya shouting angrily at his cheating friend.

Neji grinned, knowing Lee and Gai would be proud of him. He glanced back at young Kakashi, who had taken a seat next to the old carpenter, wondering what else the boy would surprise him with during this mission.

Kakashi smiled as the old man chatted with him about how he reminded him of his grandson. He stood, "I think I'll go collect some more firewood before it all gets wet."

Kakashi walked out of the camp, pushing through the underbrush for some way until he found a shady tree to sit underneath. He leaned against it and slid down, pulling his knees close and tucking his face in them. A loud clash of thunder rumbled through his ears and tiny droplets of water fell from the sky. He wondered if everyone thought he was different. People certainly acted strange around him. Adults always acted just...weird around him, and they all knew his name. The genin and students he was always around thought of him as a child or a crazy freak.

He rubbed his eyes from the wetness that tried to pool up in them. It was raining harder now and the cool drops had drenched his figure, causing him to shiver slightly. He preformed a seal, summoning two of his nin dogs, Pakkun and Bisuke, who looked at him with dark, droopy eyes. "Pup," Pakkun spoke up, looking at him with a tilted head, "what's wrong?"

Kakashi shrugged, "It's cold."

Bisuke trotted lazily next to him and curled his body next to Kakashi's, resting his head in the boy's lap. Kakashi smiled, petting the dog's tan fur fondly. Pakkun took a seat next to him and Kakashi affectionately petted him as well. "What are you doing out here in the forest by yourself?" the dog asked.

"I'm on a mission with Neji-sensei and his team."

They sat in silence for a while, simply listening to the pitter-patter of the rain as it his the tree leaves and fell down to the ground with a muddy splash.

He wondered again why he was so different. He was sure it had something to do with those ninja who had kidnapped him and how Naruto and Sakura were so protective over him. Sakura had told him that the ninja would probably come back for him. What was it about him that made them so interested in a five year old genin? He briefly wondered if it was okay for him to have come on this mission with Neji and his team. Naruto would be devastated if something were to happen to him. It was all okay, he assured himself. He was with Neji-sensei, who seemed like a decent ninja, and now he had Pakkun and Bisuke to protect him.

The bushes nearby rustled, startling Kakashi and causing his dogs to look up in curiosity. Bisuke growled and Pakkun stood up, ready to pounce.

Kakashi berated himself then for straying away from camp. He reached into his kunai holster, slowly wrapping his fingers around its handle in preparation for a fight.

Some bushes shifted in his sight and he cursed the rain for covering up all of the scents around them. 'Of course this would be the perfect time to kidnap me!' Kakashi thought to himself. 'I'm far away from Naruto-nii, away from my team, and the rain will cover up all of the tracks and scents!'

The tree above him shifted and he eyed it acutely.

'I'm surrounded; there's no way I'm getting out of this...'

A figure pushed through the brush in front of him, his long black hair and white robes as soaked as he was.

"Neji-sensei..." Kakashi uttered dumbly, inconspicuously letting go of his kunai.

"Kakashi, what are you doing out here?"

Kakashi stood, "I'm sorry Neji-sensei, I just wanted to be alone."

Neji pursed his lips but nodded. "Let's get back to camp and dry off our clothes, huh?"

Kakashi nodded and followed Neji back, Pakkun and Bisuke loyally following him. They quickly stripped down and hung their clothes up to dry. Kakashi quickly made his way into his tent with his dogs as the genin team had even come back from their exercise. He zipped up the tent front and curled up under his thin blanket, letting his dogs curl up on either side of him as he listened to the team carry on together.


	9. Time Arc: Disappearing Act

**A/N:**

5 months later...

It seems I'm always apologizing for late chapters lol I'm sure you all expect it by now. I wonder how many have kept up with this story since the very beginning?

A lot has happened in the past 5 months. I quit my jobs and moved out of my folk's house to Wilmington NC. Started a new school and new job. Lived with my manager for 3 months (worst time of my life!) and now live in a little apartment with my bf and roommate. Since the last chapter I've delved into new hobbies of extreme couponing, gardening, dumpster diving, and flipping items (as in finding something broken old and remaking it into something new). Anyways, this isn't a blog and your not here for me, on to the chappy!

**When Time Stops**  
Chapter 9: _Disappearing Act_

"The Great Naruto Bridge," Kakashi read as they reached the end of the land of fire, where a wide bridge extended over the water as far as the eye could see.

"It was named after your brother, who was a large reason the bridge was able to be finished." Neji supplied, stopping a moment to look at the bridge's title.

"Naruto Uzumaki is your brother?" the old man asked with glowingly curious eyes.

Kakashi nodded, looking over the bridge in wonder that his own brother helped with something this amazingly huge.

"Naruto Uzumaki is a hero around these parts!" The old carpenter hobbled to the bridge, affectionately patting one of its many beams. He smiled, pleasant memories filling his thoughts.

"A hero?" the girl asked, walking next to the man and peering out at the expansive bridge in aww. It made her feel so small and insignificant.

"Very much so," the carpenter began, explaining what had made Naruto Uzumaki a hero to his town.

Kakashi walked to the side of the bridge after noticing two grave stones there. He stared down at them with curious, emotionless eyes. "Zabuza and Haku..." he voiced aloud.

"Do you know them?" Neji asked, suddenly at his side. He wondered if Kakashi remembered this, too, from his previous life.

Kakashi hummed, "The names, they sound very familiar."

"Oh those two!" The old man exclaimed in excitement at being able to tell such a great story about his homeland to the group of Konoha ninja. He hurried over to the two graves in the way only an old man can. "Zabuza and Haku were ninja hired by a powerful man named Gatoh who aimed to control the Land of Wave by limiting the accessibility of trade between Wave and Fire."

Kakashi crouched down to get a better look at them. They were well kept, considering they fought for a man who had tried to suppress the Land of Wave.

"Naruto and his team fought these two, and many others so that this bridge could be built. Then, after all of it, Naruto had these two buried right here. That boy has a very big heart, if I have to say so myself." The old man laughed fondly, causing the skin around his eyes to wrinkle. He continued onward, the Konoha ninja following him onto the bridge. The old man continued on in his story, "I never would have believed the story if my son had not been a good friend of the bridge builder, Tazuna."

Kakashi hit his fist to his hand, "Ah! I know where I remember them from!" He interrupted in an unusually childlike manner. The group looked at him questioningly. "I once read a book about the Demon of the mist who killed over 100 aspiring ninja, which went on to talk about his tool, Haku."

Neji nearly tripped over himself. He forced a fake smile at the boy. 'Not quite what I had expected.'

* * *

The Konoha ninja safely escorted the old man to his home. They had to politely declined an invitation to dinner and to stay the night in the comfort of the old man's home and instead left back towards the Land of Fire in hopes of reaching Konoha before nightfall.

"How much longer are we going to have to walk?!" Toya complain, shifting the pack on his back in an attempt to give a break to his aching shoulders and back.

"Maybe you shouldn't have brought such a big pack." Kakashi supplied with disinterest. He rolled his eyes at the look Toya shot at him. They were all complete idiots in his mind. "Unnecessary items just get in the way on a mission."

"Then maybe we shouldn't have brought you-" Toya yelled stopping short when two ninja suddenly appeared before them.

The ninja were wrapped in tan and white clothing. The two looked nearly the same, one with wrapping coving the lower half of his face and the other with a hood that hung low over his head, shielding his eyes.

Neji was immediately on alert. "Get behind me!" Neji called. He glanced to the ninja's headband where a crude image of a clock was portrayed. His gut felt heavy and uneasy. 'Are these the ninja Tsunade warned me about?' He glanced briefly to Kakashi, noticing the boy frozen still. 'I can't take both of these guys on my own and protect all four of my genin. The best option is to avoid a fight.' "Who are you and what do you want?" Neji commanded, trying to uphold a pretense of calmness.

"We will be needing the boy." The ninja with the hood spoke in a deep, guttural accent.

Kakashi couldn't help but stare in fear. No matter what he did, he couldn't make his body move to even pull out a kunai to defend himself. 'Why, why did I ever leave Konoha?!' he screamed at himself. 'I should have never left Naruto-nii!'

"I'm afraid you can't have him..." Neji replied smoothly, slipping into his gentle fist stance.

Kakashi stared as his temporary sensei, knowing the situation could only get worse. 'Stupid! You can't beat them!' "Sensei!"

"Prepare to fight, Kakashi."

Kakashi froze. How could this man, who he barely knew, who had a team of his own to protect, be willing to risk his life and the lives of his team for him?

"That is very, how you say…unfortunate. I was hoping to handle this in a civil manner, for your sake." The hooded ninja disappeared only to re-appear a blink later behind Neji.

Neji whirled, activating his Byakugan and sending a barrage of punches towards the enemy nin faster than the eye could see.

Kakashi pulled out a weapon just in time for the other time nin to appear in front of him. The ninja said something Kakashi couldn't understand and reached forward to grab his arm. Kakashi ducked out of the way and performed several seals. "Shadow Clone Technique!" Four more Kakashi's popped into existence, ready to fight.

Neji's genin team stood frozen. "What do we do?" Toya asked, unconsciously back peddling.

"We have to help," the girl voiced, determination in her voice, "he may not be a part of our team, and he may be weird, but Neji-sensei is risking his life for him, so we should too." She pulled out several shuriken and threw them at the bandaged ninja, running forward with a drawn kunai, hoping it would be a distraction enough for Kakashi to make a move. Toya and the other boy set their face in determination, pulling out their own weapons and following their teammate.

The ninja glanced at her in annoyance, dully noting the shuriken flying his way. Kakashi, and his clones, took that split second of inattention to jump at the ninja. The time nin disappeared, leaving Kakashi and his clones to fall into the path of the shuriken. Two of the clones popped out of existence and Kakashi suppressed a yelp, holding his arm where one of the shuriken had sliced him. He glared at the girl only to see her shocked expression and decided that she hadn't meant to hit him. Pain exploded in his face as a boot connected with his jawbone, and he fell backward, reeling, even as a part of his mind screamed at him to move, that the pain would be nothing compared to what would happen if he didn't do something. He forced his body to roll to his feet, even as his vision swayed back and forth from the impact. A hand grabbed his hair, pulling it roughly up, making him scramble to his feet. He gasped, clawing at the ninja's arm.

Neji struggled to keep up with the time nin as he continued his barrage. Half of his strikes didn't even hit the ninja and the others were too slow to hit any of the ninja's chakra points.

"I told you, it would be much easier for you had you given the boy up." The ninja spoke with no sign of exhaustion at avoiding Neji's attacks.

A palm came out of nowhere, striking Neji's chin and causing his vision to go black for several moments. The force of the blow sent him flying backwards to land with a thump onto the dusty earth, his breath being forced out of him as a cloud of dirt blew into the air. He coughed, staring up at the ninja. He began a set of seals, "Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher," he spoke softly, jumping to his feet as he finished the seal. A wall of chakra burst from his palm, flying towards his opponent. He used the spare moment to catch his breath and glance at his genin team. Kakashi was being held by the other nin while his genin surrounded the man. A wave of hopelessness washed through his body, causing him to doubt himself.

"I'm afraid attacks like that will not work on me and only serve to waste your chakra." The hooded man appeared in front of him, smiling maniacally. He pulled out a kunai and then disappeared.

Neji's eyes widened in shock. A kunai sliced him on his arm, then again on his leg and back. He grunted, straining his eyes to find the opponent. More cuts appeared on his chest and limbs. 'He's toying with me...' Neji thought, trying in vain to protect himself from his unseen opponent. 'What can I do? He's too fast for my attacks. I'll have to take him by surprise and hope he's not fast enough to avoid my attack.'

"Kakashi!" the girl screamed, drawing Neji's attention from his own fight and to where the other ninja had been. The time ninja and Kakashi were missing and all he saw left were his three genin, bruised and bloodied.

His opponent continued to attack him. He closed his eyes, ignoring the cuts that continued to appear on him and his worry about Kakashi and his team and carefully perform seals in his head 'Eight Trigrams: Palm Revolving Heavens!' He spun wildly, creating a dome of chakra. The cuts stopped and he cautiously released the jutsu, wondering if maybe he had succeeded in hitting his opponent. He strained his senses, searching for any sign of the enemy nin. He blinked and in that moment, a kunai was thrust into his chest. The time ninja in front of him smiled arrogantly, twisting the kunai slightly inside of Neji.

Neji coughed, nearly doubling over if the ninja did not still hold the kunai inside of him. Blood pooled in his mouth and ran down his face.

"This kunai of mine is millimeters away from your left lung. It will not kill you, however breathing may become troublesome for some time in the future." The ninja twisted the kunai even more, causing Neji to gasp in pain and reel forward. The ninja leaned in dangerously close to Neji's ear. "Stay alive and deliver Kakashi back to his caretaker in Konoha," he whispered threateningly in his guttural accent before roughly pulling out the kunai and disappearing.

"Sensei!" the girl yelled as he doubled over, falling to his knees and holding his wound with his arm, using the other to brace himself against the ground. His team ran over, falling to the ground next to him.

"Sensei, are you alright?" the carefree boy asked, looking worriedly at his teacher.

"Ah," Neji coughed, stopping short when a wave of pain washed over him. He tried to hold back his coughing but could not. His face squeezed up in pain and blood dribbled from his mouth.

"What happened to Kakashi?" he forced out, scanning their surroundings quickly for any sign of the boy or the time ninja.

"We don't know..." Toya supplied, his expression confused and worried.

"He just..." the girl began, tears welling up in her eyes, "They just disappeared with him. What are we going to do Sensei…?"

"Don't worry," he rasped, wincing as he tried to force down a cough, "well get him back."

A wave of chakra came from the area his genin had been fighting and he looked up, ready to protect the rest of his genin team even in his state. Instead, his eyes grew wide with what he saw. His team turned to see what he was looking at, sounds of surprise escaping them.

* * *

Like waking to a dream, Kakashi blinked open his fuzzy eyes to too bright lights lined in two rows above his head. He squinted as the light pierced through his eyes and into his skull, forcing him to close his eyes again until his eyes adjusted. His tongue felt huge and sluggish. He found, after his senses had more or less come back to him, that he had been gagged. He tried to sit up, but found that his chest was strapped down at the shoulders, his wrists, too, held down by a tightly bound thick, leather strap. He pulled with all of his strength, thrashing his body in a wild tantrum, finding that his legs had also been bound at his thigh.

He left his struggle, finding it helpless to free himself, he scoured the room with his eyes. The room was small but well lit. He decided definitively that he was in a surgery room. However there were no monitors, merely surgical instruments, bins, and a sink.

The door opened and he heard before he saw two men enter, holding a conversation in a language that he could not understand. The two came into sight and he recognized them as the two Time nin that had attacked him with Neji's genin team. He growled.

"_Ah he's awake,"_ said the man who stood to his right, whose eyes were mostly covered by a beige head wrap that twisted around his neck and over his head. "We just wish to take a peek inside you," the same man said with a chuckle as the other, the man whose face was covered and whose eyes were dark and tired looking, smeared some cold liquid across his abdomen.

Kakashi yelled behind his gag and pulled at his restraints.

The dark eyed man, who seemed to be the doctor, examined Kakashi's panicked face. "_Tell the boy not to worry and to relax, we are not going to hurt him."_ He spoke in the deep, guttural language.

The hooded man pulled up a chair and sat back in it, propping his feet up on the table. "Doctor says when you thrash around so much he might do accidental irreversible damage."

Kakashi yelled angrily at the men, cursing angrily at them with as many words as he knew.

"_You're no help at all," _the doctor spoke softly, shooting his friend a callous look. _"I will do this myself." _He raised a finger up to his own lips and spoke in a low even voice that emitted calmness. _"Come now, be still and it will be over soon, yea? It will be painless if you will behave."_

Kakashi calmed slightly, not understanding what the man was saying, but reading by the way the doctor was speaking that he was not here to torture him.

"_You are too soft,"_ the hooded man scoffed.

"_Ask how has his health been," _commanded the doctor.

"_Is not that your job?" _ the hooded man laughed as he leaned forward and examined Kakashi , tapping the boy's cheek and stating cheekily, _"He seems well enough to me. Just get on with it, Doctor."_

Kakashi glared at the hooded man and glanced wearily to the doctor. He wondered what they wanted to look at inside of him. The whole situation was confusing and alien and he just wanted it all to be a bad dream. But it wasn't and here he was, a captive of some unknown ninja that were about to do kami knows what to him. He resolved that he would figure out what was going on and escape as soon as he could. Naruto had been training him all this time for this very moment.

The doctor quietly placed two fingers on each side of Kakashi's head. Energy began to flow through his head, sending a hot tingle through his veins. Kakashi's muscles constricted painfully and he thrashed weakly as his vision began to grow fuzzy.

"_Hush hush, it will be over in a minute," _the doctor murmured.

Kakashi's vision grew dark and his veins burned, but he could not move them in the least. He struggled to stay awake, but the darkness called to him and soon he was in a fitful sleep.

His body was tingling with streams of fire in the darkness that encompassed his vision. His veins were flowing with lava, and at the same time his chakra stayed continuously depleted. His mind was forced to find a safe place to hide from his body's plight and the image of his brother presented itself to his weary mind. Naruto always had a way of making him feel better with his laughter, good humored jokes, and optimistic personality. He had always been there for him, as long as he could remember his brother had taken care of him and looked out for him. "Let's go get some Ichiraku Ramen," his brother would say. To him, ramen fixed every sort of problem. His first day of school had been daunting and he had been picked on most of the time he had been there, but Naruto had been there waiting for him every day after school and they had gone to get ramen together each time. When his sensei trained him and pushed him extra hard, they would go get ramen together.

"Sensei, I don't like ramen," Kakashi would rebut.

"Nonsense," his brother sheathed his pronged kunai and pulled a twig from his golden mop of hair. Miraculously if was the only spec of dirt on him, even his white robe was spotless.

"I need to go home and study; the books are due back to the library tomorrow." Kakashi muttered as his sensei ushered him forward towards the business district of town. He sighed heavily. His blond sensei led him through the streets, nodding to the people he passed by. The blond brushed aside the curtains outside of Ichiraku.

"Ah! Minato! Good to see you today!"

Kakashi ducked under the curtain and looked towards his sensei with a slight frown of confusion.

Minato greeted the man behind the counter eagerly and smiled down at Kakashi.

Kakashi sat down next to the blond man and watched him interact with the people around him. They all acted normal, just as they did when he and Naruto came, and yet they all addressed him has Minato.

"I'll have a big bowl of miso." his sensei said with a smile and turned to him. "What would you like Kakashi?"

"I'll have the sa-" he started looking up to the man behind the counter and noticing that his sensei looked a bit different. A bit longer face, smaller eyes, longer hair. He frowned, perplexed by the change and stared at his sensei.

"Sorry?" the blond man that sat next to him asked.

"Miso for me as well," Kakashi muttered softly.

Minato talked animatedly to the man behind the bar and Kakashi listened, sitting quietly as always. His surroundings changed and he barely noted how weird such a change was in reality. By the time he made note of the change, he was at home and his sensei shrugged off the cloak and made himself comfy on the couch in the apartment they both lived in.

"Minato-sensei," Kakashi called, following his sensei slowly

"Hm?" the blond mused, resting his head on the back of the couch.

"What happened to Naruto?" Kakashi asked, standing just a few feet away from his sensei.

"Naruto?" the man questioned, sitting up and looking at the boy with a confused tilt of the head. "I am Naruto, Kashi."

Kakashi frowned as he continued to stare at them man. Naruto was Minato? He didn't notice blackness creep in around his vision until his body began to burn more as more until the only thing he could see was his teachers face. He found himself screaming and watched his teachers face turn worried before his vision turned black and he curled himself into a ball.

"Kakashi? What's wrong? Where are you?" his teachers voiced echoed behind his own pained gasps.

"Kakashi! The voiced called, worried. "I'll find you Kakashi! Don't worry I'm coming!" he yelled even as his voice became more and more faint until there was no sound other than the pulsing of his heart and the rush of his labored gasps.


	10. Time Arc: Prisoner of Time

**A/N: **quick post. not many reviews last chapter? that was kind of disappointing, but expected at the same time lol

I made a gift for all of my beloved readers! I was searching through all my notes and pictures to refresh my memory and decided to take pictures of them all and post them so that my readers (if they so wish) would be able to in a way, see the evolution of this story. I always like seeing behind the scenes to stories, art, movies and...really anything. I hope you like it :) Theres a little blurb about it on the DA page but anyways here's the link and remember REVIEWS = CRACK: anna-mae . deviantart... /# /d5n3o4p

* * *

**When Time Stops  
**Chapter 10: _Prisoner of Time_

An resounding clang woke him and he lifted his heavy head to quickly examine his surroundings. He was in a stone room, laying on a white cot, the only piece of furniture in the room besides a small bucket in a dirty corner. His body felt numb, clothed in an overly large white shirt and tan wrap pants. He slowly pushed himself up, wincing as shots of pain came from his abdomen. The door to his room opened, bombarding him with light, and distracting him from his bodily pains. He threw his hand up to shade his face and looked away. Two men spoke in their foreign tongue from the door. Suddenly one of the men were standing next to him and looking down at him.

"_Come with me, child," _the man spoke. He wore a white tunic and beige wrap pants like the two people who had captured him and preformed surgery on him. Kakashi looked up to him and to the man waiting at the door whose face was wrapped except for his eyes.

The man grabbed his arm with a firm grip and lifted him to his feet. Kakashi stumbled, surprised by the quickness of the action and winced as the skin around his injury was pulled and stretched. He was dragged out of his room into the blinding light, noting that the lock on his door would not make it possible for him to escape from his room later on. They were in a hallway outdoors, with only a roof to protect those who walked through from the elements. A small square grass courtyard was in the center several steps down, which the walkway wrapped around. In it, five men practiced a mix of katas and stretches in such an arrangement that Kakashi had never seen before. Above them was the bluest sky, dotted my puffy clouds and singing birds. Kakashi was guided forward nearly half way around the courtyard, to a large set of wooden double doors where two men stood to each side, they wore a similar outfit to the other men he had seen, beige wrap pants and a long white tunic, with a head wrap that covered their head on some way. The guard allowed Kakashi and his guides entrance and pushed open the doors. Before his was a lush garden, with a multitude of flowers and trees, with a stream that peacefully cut through them. In the center of it all was a wide flat grass area which displayed a bright red, open-walled temple which stood at the center of it all. They started into the garden, following the path towards the temple. As they approached, Kakashi made out a man sitting in the center of the temple, incense and flowers laying around him and a guard to either side of him. The man was old and stately. His wore all white and his bald head was left bare. The wrinkles on his face and hands made him look old and weathered. Kakashi walked up the steps at his escort's guidance and stopped several feet in front of the old man. One of the men pushed his shoulder roughly, making him fall to his knees. He winced as the wound on his abdomen was jarred. The two escorts muttered something ritually in union and lowered to one knee with their heads several minutes the stood again, pulling Kakashi up with them, who struggled to find his footing.

_"Kakashi...Hatake." _The man rasped out. The words seemed to take enough effort for him to say that he was out of breath. He said nothing else, seeming to take the time to catch his breath and regain his energy.

"What do you want with me? Why do you people keep following me and attacking me?" Kakashi demanded, staring down the ancient man with the proudness of both the Hatake and Uzumaki clans.

One of his escort smacked him roughly in the back of the head. _"Do not disrespect the elder, child."_

Kakashi frowned, rubbing the spot and glaring at the offender.

The old man groaned then, his arms shaking against the arms of the chair. Instantly, the two men on either side of him grabbed the old man underneath his arms and lifted him gently, helping him to stand up. He stood on skinny, shaky legs and was given a knurled wood cane to support his weight. The man took shaky steps forward, his eyes locked on the young Hatake, until he stopped right in front of the boy.

"We must test you to see your progress, young Hatake...son of Konoha's White Fang."

The man reached out and touched both sides of his head, just above his ears, with a grip that betrayed his old age.

Kakashi struggled to slip out of the old man's grasp, but his escorts held him firmly in place, not allowing him to move or struggle.

_"Let us have a look inside your head..."_ the old man rasped.

A force thrust itself inside Kakashi's head and he gasped at the intrusion. He pushed back against it with his own mind, grinding his teeth at the effort and saw that the old man began to sweat, his brow furrowed viciously.

The forced in his head pushed back with astounding ferocity, tearing through his thoughts and digging deep into his past. Memories of his young childhood flashed before him and seized his mind. He remembered waking up in the forest, barely clothed, with his brother Naruto and wondering where his dad was. The pressure dug through more of his memories, stopping on the one where he slept walked into town and come across Iruka. All of a sudden the memory was released and the force shuffled through many more, pausing briefly at memories that Kakashi thought had no significance. Kakashi gritted his teeth as the pressure overwhelmed him. He pushed against it as much as he could, but the battling forces made his brain feel close to explosion. The old man stopped at a very recent memory of him battling Toya and feeling one with the katana he was using.

_'Good Kakashi, you're learning well.'_

_Kakashi grunted in acknowledgment, decided to try his hand at offense. He pushed forward, swinging at Toya._

_'Now swing with your whole body, not just your arms.'_

_He did, and his tanto hit Toya's katana with an even louder clang, drawing glances from Neji and the other genin._

_The clouds above them thundered, shaking the earth with their power. Kakashi saw the katana coming towards his head, wielded by his blond headed sensei, and jumped to the side, rolling a few paces before he stood and faced his opponent again._

_"Where the hell are you going? I'm the one on defense here!" Toya yelled in frustration._

_'You fight just like your father, Kakashi-kun.' The blond smiled, sheathing his katana at last. He plopped to the ground as if he were a kid and sighed contentedly as he lay in the grass, cool breeze blowing his blond locks._

The pressure inside his head retreated suddenly. Kakashi gasped and fell to his knees. His head pounding and his body feeling weak and distant.

_"That will be all..."_ the man breathed, turning to walk back to his seat. He stumbled weakly back, breathing heavily. _"Bring our brother, Leobwin."_

One of Kakashi's escorts picked him up and carried him back to his room, laying him down on the bed. The man retreated and the door was shut and locked, casting Kakashi into darkness. The pounding in his head continued. The only defense he had against it was to curl up and fall asleep.

* * *

It was late as Leobwin made his way through the through the darkness of the garden, easily finding his way with slow, easy steps. The sky was the deepest shade of purple now, lit only by the serene glow of the half moon far above. The air was fresh and energizing after several long days holed up in his study as he researched ways to improve upon his Jutsu. It had become his art - his passion. He craved for it to come to completion and become something perfect and beautiful. He would become a master, nearly godlike, able to forgo death and alter a human's age at will. His previous versions of the Jutsu left...much to be desired. They were an accomplishment, but nowhere near what he expected of himself and what all of his brothers were expecting of him.

He silenced his thoughts, gliding up the three stairs into The Elder's temple. He bowed his head low, chanting a ritualistic greeting to The Elder. _"You have summoned me and I have answered your call, Elder."_

The Elder sat before him, seated regally in his throne. The incense around him still burned, tendrils of smoke wafting up around him and the flowers which were draped around him. The flowers had began to droop, weary and dying from their long day of work. Candles inside of glass lanterns hung from the ceiling, dimly lighting the small Elder waved his hand and his two guard bowed and left silently, is missed from their duty for the night. It was several minutes after they left before the Elder made any motion to speak._ "Brother Leobwin, you have been quite busy. How fares your studies?" _The old man questioned, head held high and voice weary and faint.

_"I still have much to learn, Elder, but my research has progressed after seeing the effects of my Jutsu first-hand. I have gathered even more information than the previous time we had the child with us. It seems the effects of the Jutsu are more apparent as he grows older."_

_"I have seen a similar pattern in my search..." _Replied the Elder, motioning with his frail, wrinkled and shaking hand for Leobwin to approach.

Leobwin the throne and kneeled in front of the old man.

The Elder leaned forward and placed his cold wrinkled hand on Leobwin's forehead,_ "I will share with you what I have seen hitherto in the boy's mind. You will see the effects of your last modification of this incredible technique."_

A presence entered his mind. Alien and forceful, it displayed a multitude of pictures into his thoughts. He battled to suppress the urge to force the presence out of his mind, finding it uncomfortable the bear. The images overwhelmed his senses and he could do nothing but relive the moments in time that they portrayed.

When the presence retreated, it did so suddenly, leaving him breathless and gasping for air as was the old man, who dropped his hand and fell tiredly back into his chair. The images shown to him fixated themselves at the forefront of Leobwin's mind. He weeded through each one of them, learning as much as he could from them.

_"You will travel and find out if what we have seen is true. If it is, it will mean great things for your jutsu. Take Pungarh with you, should you run into any trouble."_ The Elder smiled weakly, absentmindedly rubbing the arm of his chair in habit.

_"As you wish," _Leobwin nodded, standing to his full height,_ "We will travel with great speed."_

_"Peace be with you in your journeys, my brother, Leobwin." _The Elder replied and dismissed him with a nod.

Leobwin glided through the garden towards the main rooms with haste, his mind eagerly churning the new information he had been given. It would not be long not until he perfected his jutsu into a magnificent art for his people.

* * *

When Kakashi woke up, he didn't know how long it had been. Echoes of pain from his encounter with the old man beat through his head at a more tolerable level and allowed him to sit up and examine his room. There were no windows, only stone walls. He noticed a bowl of bread on a small stand next to his bed through the darkness, accompanied by a jug of water. He grabbed the meager loaf and tore it in half, eagerly eating it. He sat back on his bed and leaned against the wall, grimacing as he was reminded of his earlier injury. He peeled up his tunic and began unwrapping his bandages. Beneath it all, a neat hand length cut lay vertically on hischest. It was precisely sewn together with delicate, shiny stitches. It seemed to have healed up a bit. It must have been a few days since the operation, he though to himself as he threw the bandages in a ball to the floor. He pulled down the shoulder of his tunic to examine the cut on his arm from battling with his temporary genin team. It, too, had been stitched and was healing quite well. He lay his head back against the wall, pondering what he would do to get out of this place. If he could only get free of his cell, the building seemed to lack any serious security that would threaten his freedom. He would just wait until someone came to feed him again.

* * *

It had been a while since he had left and seen the old man in the garden. No one had come to get him or check on him since. Nor had he been given any more food or water. He kept himself occupied by planning his escape. He kept from moving around to save energy. There were only a a few bites of bread left and he had drunk all of his water. He wondered how long he was to stay here and what exactly the old man had meant when he had said he wanted to test his progress. He couldn't help but replay the memories the man had searched through over and over in his head. Somehow, there was information in them that the old man needed, but he couldn't understand why these people needed information from him of all people. He couldn't wrap his head around what they were trying to do with him. The old man had mentioned his father. He was sure they were trying to learn secrets of the Hatake family through him, but he knew very little of his father.

* * *

Kakashi could hear the water trickling somewhere. He pressed his ear against the wall, halting his breath to listen in dead silence. Below. He dropped to his hands and knees and found a little trickle of water near the floor. It came from a crack in the wall and quickly drained out a hole in the corner of the floor. He put his face against the wall, the water running across his cheek and lips, and greedily slurped it up. After several minutes he righted himself. His stomach grounded against itself loudly and he retreated to his bed to lay down and sleep. He was weary and his body felt very weak. He didn't know how many days it had been, but he had slept more times than he could count on his fingers. His food and water had been consumed long before. Was he meant to sit and die in this little dark room? No, he assured himself, they would not have given him food and drink if they meant for him to die. Then what? We're they testing him? Yes they must be.

* * *

He laid in bed and stared into the darkness at the ceiling because thats all he had the energy to do. His thoughts were focused on inhaling and exhaling. A clamor startled him and the door to his room open, blinding him. His arm raced to cover his face. A man called out from his room and came to him. Kakashi didn't know what the man said, all he could think about is that he might get food now. The man pulled him up out of bed and to his feet, speaking in his foreign language. Kakashi tried but couldn't keep his knees locked underneath him. The man was left to hold up most of Kakashi's weight. As he was led outside, Kakashi's eyes still couldn't adjust to the light and he found himself following blindly wherever the escort was taking him. They descended a few stairs and continued walking into the center of the grassy courtyard. They stopped and Kakashi was left to stand on his own wobbly legs, his escorts retreating from the courtyard and exiting down some hall.

He squinted around, noticing two forms before him. The doctor, Leobwin stood before him, who spoke something in the ancient language. Looking frazzled, he came towards Kakashi. He was accompanied by the other man who had translated for the doctor, and who stood unemotionally, watching the doctor and Kakashi with disinterest.

Leobwin spoke quickly and heavily and he circled the boy, feeling the pulse on Kakashi's neck, checking his temperature with the back of his palm, and finally lifting his shirt to examine the healing of the incision. _"We leave for just a little while and the brothers forget to care for my experiment. The experiment is a child, it must be taken care of, fed, exercised, intellectually stimulated or it will become weak and die. Did it not occur to any of them that this experiment is the key to our people's survival?" _Leobwin spoke, shaking his head at the stupidity of his brethren.

"_I am sure he will be fine, Leobwin, you worry far too much." _The other man spoke, casually examining the dirt beneath his fingernails.

"_His body is weak and he has a slight fever, but he will recover quickly. Such is the nature of the specimen I have chosen. He is from strong blood." _Leobwin replied, smiling at the boy and patting Kakashi's silver tuft of hair. _"See to it that he is fed and cleaned, Pungarh." _The doctor demanded, walking across the grass and up the stairs towards the guarded double doors.

"_Where are you going?"_ Pungarh called after him, angrily dismayed that he was being left with this outsider child.

"_I must speak to The Elder about this mistreatment of my test subject."_

Pungarh frowned, glaring at the doctor as he passed through the doors and disappeared as they closed.

Kakashi watched the two carry on, not understanding a word of what was going on. The man left standing in front of him looked down at him and huffed a sigh. "You will come with me, Hatake." The man began walking in the opposite in the opposite direction as the doctor, ascending the stairs and headed down a hallway. Kakashi followed feebly, knowing he was in no state to resist or put up any sort of fight.

They left the courtyard where his room and the double doors to the garden-temple were and traveled down a dim hallway into another courtyard, similar to his own but nearly twice the size. Instead of being lined on all sides by doors, there was one great open room, covered by a roof but open to the courtyard. In it, there were several tables and an array of food displayed. In the great room, many ate, happily talking, while others casually walked from room to room. The courtyard was filled with activity as well. Two children played in the grassy courtyard, chasing and tackling each other, laughing all the while. They were overseen by an older boy who sat boredly on the steps that led down to the courtyard and idly chewing on a strand of grass. The translator led Kakashi through the great room, causing the people around them to turn and stare, halting in their conversations and meals.

Kakashi fidgeted under their stares, reaching to his face where his mask would normally be to adjust it, a nervous habit of his. Instead he found himself itching his cheek awkwardly.

They stopped in front of the display of food, an arrangement of fruits, vegetables and breads. "Take what you wish." Pungarh instructed, handing him a small plate.

Kakashi took it and scanned the food. He thought it strange the change in the way they were treating him, but left the thought for another time. He eagerly grabbed food, piling it onto his plate until it could not hold another piece of food. The man led him to a table, and motioned for him to sit. Kakashi did so without question and began to dig into his food. The translator stared him blankly, eyes hard.

"What..." Kakashi demanded after several minutes, mouth half-full of food. He squinted at the man, not liking being stared at so openly.

Pungarh sighed and looked around at the other men in the great room and courtyard, "We are simple people, we live naturally and happily. In this place, time does not bind us to the world and we do not share the same worries that your people face. It is quite easy for us to be lost in time, unaware that it has passed."

Kakashi frowned, deciphering what the translator was saying, "So you don't age and die?"

The man laughed once, "We are not immortal, Hatake."

"So, you use your jutsu to manipulate time?" Kakashi ask curiously.

Pungarh looked at him with piercing eyes, before looking away and falling silent.

Kakashi tucked the fact that the man refused to answer his question to the back of his mind for later thinking. Any information he could gather would help him escape and later if he would be faced with battling the Time nin again.

A man approached their table, his strides long and slow, wearing clothes the same as every other person Kakashi had seen in this place. He shot a curious glance at Kakashi before bowing his head to the translator and speaking in their native tongue. _"The Elder has commanded that Kakashi Hatake join the other children after he is fed and bathed."_

Pungarh grimaced, banging his fist on the table._"The Elder wants to put Hatake with our children? He has gone mad. What would we do if something were to happen to the children?" _Kakashi stared at the two, startled at the sudden outburst.

The messenger stood silently, waiting for Pungarh's rant to subside.

"_Who is to take care of him?" _He growled, already knowing the answer.

"_The Elder had requested that you keep watch over him, in the event that he should attempt to harm anyone or try to escape."_

Pungarh huffed loudly, waving the messenger away with an angry swipe. _"This is all Leobwin's doing, curse him."_

Kakashi stared at the translator curiously as he continued to munch on his much needed meal.

Pungarh stood suddenly, "Come, Hatake, we will go."

Kakashi sulked internally, hesitant to leave his food as he was far from full. Stuffing one more bite in his mouth, he stood and jogged after the translator to catch up.


	11. Time Arc: Playing With Fire

**A/N: **Theres a lot going on in this chapter and it spans a long time, I hope its easy enough to follow and that you find it interesting! ;) Also, I think next chapter will make us about 1/4 way through the story? I know a lot of you read it and like it so ill try my best to finish it! :) let me know what you think of the chapter and what you THINK will happen in the next chapter;)) Here a pic i drew for this chapter anna-mae . deviant art . c 0 m / # / d5n9ese

PS. Im sure you all have picked this up, but the _italics_ is the language that the time people speak

**When Time Stops  
**Chapter 11: _Playing With Fire_

_"Is he real?"_

_"He looks like it..."_

Kakashi watched the three in from of him. There were two boys roughly his own age and one who was much older. He remembered seeing them earlier that day in the courtyard during his meal. The smallest of the bunch, a small boy with a clean shaven head reached forward cautiously and quickly, giving him a sharp pinch on the arm. Kakashi swatted the boy's hand away, an annoyed expression taking over his face. He glanced behind him, where Pungarh sat under the cover of the great room at one of the tables, leaning forward and watching him intently. He turned back to the boys, wondering what the hell his captors were doing with him.

_"Of course he is real, you idiots..."_

_"What is your name?"_ The second of the younger boys asked. He had short brown hair and many freckles powdered on his nose and cheeks.

Kakashi stared at the odd bunch, noting how curious and intrigued their expressions seemed to be. He ignored them for the most part. He turned on his heel and walked away, to a small dirt patch in the grassy courtyard. He fell into a squat, dragging his finger through the dirt, making nothing in particular. "Why would they group their prisoner with their kids..." he muttered to himself speculatively.

_"Hey!"_ The short haired boy called, _"He is getting away!"_

_"Quiet,"_ the oldest boy said, chewing on a piece of grass as he watched the young, strange boy. He wore a similar outfit as all of the men. His long shoulder-length brown hair was pulled back sloppily into a ponytail, some strands falling out and falling into his face. He blew them out of the way. _"He does not speak our language."_

_"What other language is there?!"_ The youngest exclaimed.

The younger boys stared at the newcomer in amazement while the oldest walked towards Kakashi, squatting next to him. The newcomer glanced at him, scribbling something in the dirt. Now flanked by his younger companions, he watched the small silver-haired boy mark in the dirt, wondering what it all meant.

_"What is he drawing..."_ the bald boy wondered aloud.

The oldest shrugged. He waved, catching Kakashi's attention, and pointed to himself, _"My name is Duilus."_

Kakashi stared at the older boy. They obviously wouldn't leave him alone. He sighed, wishing he could go back to his cell. He never did like talking to people his own age, even at the academy. They always seemed so...unintelligent and emotional. It was a distraction from his goals. He figured he might as well see what they wanted.

The older boy repeated what he said, exaggerating it slowly, _"My NAME is DUILUS...D-u-i-l-u-s."_

The other boys giggled at how silly the oldest sounded to them.

Kakashi frowned, working his brain to understand. _"Duilus..."_ he repeated slowly, the word feeling thick and foreign on his tongue.

The boy smiled, showing off a mouthful of teeth, the strand of grass still held between them. _"Yes!"_ he replied excitedly, pointing to himself once more and nodding, _"Duilus."_

_"I am Feol!"_ The youngest boy burst out loudly, hardly able to contain his excitement at having a new friend.

_"And I am Gaughtur!"_

Their names. They were teaching him their names. Names of three of the children of the Time ninja. There had to be some way to use this opportunity to his advantage. He didn't know what the Time ninja were aiming at, and surely he would have to figure that out first, but he was damn sure he would find a way to make this situation work in his advantage if he ever wanted to escape and get back to Konoha. He turned back to the dirt, sweeping his arm, tunic and all, across his writing with one swift motion. He scratched the kanji of his name into the freshly cleared dirt, trying his hardest to make them legible (his academy teachers always did complain about his illegible penmanship). When he finished, he looked to the boys, pointing at himself. "Kakashi," he said, giving them the friendliest smile he could muster. The motion was awkward and uncomfortable.

The three echoed him, quite excited at their butchered attempt of his name and their newly formed friendship.

_"Children,"_ a voice called suddenly.

The three turned, immediately sobering.

Kakashi followed their gaze to a stern-looking, old man with white hair shooting out of his loosely wrapped head scarf.

The boys immediately stood and quickly lined up in front of the man.

Kakashi watched them from afar, seeing how they moved in unison at the old man's words. The way the boys and the old man acted towards each other reminded him strangely of his relationship with Naruto when they trained. "He must be their sensei..." he muttered to himself, walking up to them. He was curious to see what type of fighting skills they possessed in this village. He fell in line next to the oldest boy on the end, and mirrored his 'at ease' stance. He looked to the old man, who was staring at him with an irritated expression.

_"What do you think you are doing, boy?"_

The older boy, Duilus, stared at Kakashi, shooing him away with a quick, urgent flick of his hand.

Kakashi shook his head, staring at the old man with determination, "Please allow me to train with you, Sensei!" He bent over, hoping his show of respect would allow him to stay and learn.

_"Pungarh!"_ The old man yelled.

Kakashi recognized that word. He peeked up, holding his bowing position, to where Pungarh had been sitting. The man was smirking, a certain amusement in his eyes.

_"Take your prisoner away from here, we are training. I cannot have this experiment getting in the way of my children's lessons."_

Pungarh laughed, _"It does not appear that he will be of any trouble. See? He is asking your permission to train, 'Sensei'.'"_

The old man snorted, a pompous air in the way he now held himself, _"It is not safe for the children."_

Pungarh was suddenly serious as he eyed the teacher, _"You know that I am concerned for the safely of Time's children as much as you are."_ He stood, walking forward to the edge of the courtyard, _"I will leave him to you then as I have matters of my own to attend to."_ He left without a reply, venturing off somewhere Kakashi knew not.

The old man huffed, walking to Kakashi, stopping directly in front of the boy.

Kakashi righted himself and met the old man's stare with a stare of his own.

_"Very well, but if you get in the way, child, you will leave immediately."_

_"Sensei, he does not speak our language-"_ Feol, the youngest, started.

_"Silence!"_ He yelled, turning on his heel and walking down his line of students, _"Begin your exercises! Count loudly so I can hear you!"_

_"Yes, Sensei!"_ The three chorused, already moving in unison into their first position. Their weight shifted to their left foot as their bodies opened up and arms moved into a ready position in front of them.

_"One!"_ The boy's shouted.

Kakashi shuffled awkwardly into the same position, straining his neck to see around the older boy to make sure he was in the correct position. Before he could entirely be certain that he had gotten the right stance, they moved again, turning on the pads of their feet and bringing one knee to their chest and shifting their weight back._ "Two!"_

Kakashi echoed their movements, hopping on the foot he was left standing on. _"T-two!"_ He shouted several seconds too late, trying to mimic their words the best he could.

The other boy's his age giggled, the older trying to hide a smirk.

_"Pull yourself together!"_ The old man shouted at his three boys.

They shifted, moving their weight to their opposite leg and falling into a low stance, arms stretched far above their head. Kakashi copied, sinking low into his legs, arms stretching high. The old man walked by him, speculating him cooly. Kakashi ignored him, until he was shoved in the back.

_"Ak!"_ He yelped, loosing balance and falling forward, waving his arms wildly. He fell to the ground, barely able to catch himself before his face hit.

The boys laughed.

_"Lower your center of gravity; you are balanced and centered. Again."_ The old man instructed.

Kakashi picked himself up, brushing the dirt off of his tunic front. The old man was staring at him expectantly. He lowered into position again, raising his arms up. The man tapped the top of his left leg. Kakashi lowered even more. Another tap on his right heel and he spread his foot further. A hard tap on the back and he pushed out his chest.

The old man again shoved Kakashi in the back. The silver hair boy wobbled but managed to stay balanced.

_"Much better…"_ the man drawled.

_"Three!"_

They moved again and again, the old man correcting him each time. Kakashi was sure that they had been practicing for hours by the time they were finally allowed to stop. They must have gone through more than one hundred positions. The boys returned to an 'at ease' position and Kakashi copied them. His body was sore from the strange movements, but he was far from tired. They had barely done anything compared to his training sessions with Naruto.

_"Very good, now we will meditate, children."_

The boys nodded, sitting down on their knees on the soft grass.

Kakashi stared at them and their sensei, wondering what kind of training they were doing. He watched them several moments, but the three boys simply sat there with their eyes closed. "Sensei, when do we fight?"

The old man looked at him, giving him an agitated stare.

"You know," Kakashi continued when they were all looking at him with blank stares, "sparring, training, fighting."

"Kakashi?" Duilus questioned, looked dumbfounded.

Kakashi frowned, shaking his head and wondering how to communicate with these people. _"Duilus,"_ he started, reaching for the older boy's arm and pulling up.

Duilus looked to his sensei, receiving a nod of approval, and stood.

Kakashi half-smiled at his small achievement. He fell into a familiar fighting stance, "Spar."

_"Uh…"_ Duilus drawled. He tentatively mimicked the stance.

Kakashi reached forward in a mock hit, bracing his arm against Duilus.' "Spar; when to we get to actually train?" He asked, looking from the older boy to the old man. Duilus' expression was as confused as ever. The old man held an unreadable expression somewhere between confusion and disgust. "Hm," Kakashi hummed in thought, wondering if there was another way to explain himself. An idea popped into his head then and he couldn't help but smile as his own genius. He clapped his hands together, "Shadow clone jutsu!" One Kakashi popped into existence. As the smoke cleared, Kakashi noted, curiously, the amazed look on the boys' faces. Even the old man seemed amazed, though he stifled it well. Kakashi ignored his audience and turned to Kakashi-clone, dropping into a fighting stance. The clone dropped into a fighting stance as well. Without signal, the two Kakashi's began sparring, throwing fist and foot at each other. After only a few minutes they stopped and Kakashi looked to the boys and old man. "Spar," he repeated once more.

All three boys looked amazed, watching him with wide eyes. The old man, on the other hand, looked enraged. The old man stomped towards Kakashi, grabbing his mop of silver hair. The Kakashi-clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. The old man pulled Kakashi back to the line and shoved him down into his knees into a meditating position, like the other boys were in.

_"No_ spar." He growled at Kakashi's face. The old man released Kakashi and moved back to the front of the line, facing the boys and kneeling to meditate as well.

Kakashi winced, rubbing the tender spot on his head. He had many questions, questions that he was sure, would go unanswered.

* * *

_"Duilus..."_ Kakashi whispered across the wooden table. The three boys were studying in a small, closed-off library-type room. A small lantern was situated in front of each of them so that they could easily read. Besides that, the room was dimly lit and damp, with few lanterns situated throughout the room. Kakashi had picked out a thick book, one with many pictures inside. He flipped through the pages, glancing briefly at each picture without really paying attention to them. The older boy glanced up, barely pausing in his reading to acknowledge the silver-topped boy.

Kakashi scoot forward in his seat and leaned far over the table, talking in a hushed whisper. _"Why no spar?"_ He asked in his best imitation of their thick language. He had been with the time children for, as best he could tell, about two weeks. He had slowly picked up their language, although he was far from being able to fully understand any of them. The boys, especially Duilus, had also picked up some of Kakashi's language, helping in the learning process even more.

Duilus raised a single brow._ "Uhm,"_ the older boy looked around, unconsciously tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. He glanced at Kakashi's book. He grabbed it and pulled it towards himself, flipping decidedly through the pages until he stopped at an elaborate image of some sort of deity, garbed in white and with a bright light surrounding him. The deity was surrounded by men bowing and meditating beneath him, as well as ornate designs and gifts. _"Our father, he does not allow us to spar. It is against our nature to harm our brethren."_ He explained simply, shaking his head to make sure the message was realized.

"Hn," Kakashi responded, thinking over the explanation Duilus had given and trying to work out its meaning in his head. He looked down at the displayed picture, studying it. "But the world is based upon ninja defending their village and completing missions."

_"No spar,"_ Duilus repeated, smiling as he pushed the book back to Kakashi and turned back to his book.

Kakashi looked at the book, flipping a few more pages. He looked up to Duilus who seemed to be intent on studying._ "Duilus,_" Kakashi whispered again, shrinking as he noticed Pungarh give him a fierce glare at interruption to the boy's studies.

Duilus looked up, smiling at Kakashi's persistent questioning.

Kakashi pointed to himself, _"I am good at sparring. Very strong!"_ He smiled, flexing his arm.

Duilus looked at him wearily. _"We do not spar, Kakashi. Few here fight."_

_"Pungarh and Leobwin spar."_ Kakashi rebutted quickly.

Duilus nodded slowly, _"They have devoted themselves to the father and yet, they are destined to a life of sin. Warriors are not allowed into the afterlife. It is very bad to us."_

Kakashi frowned, _"Fighting is, exhilarating and challenging."_ He couldn't help but remember training with his brother nearly everyday. He missed Naruto and Konoha. _"I will teach you to spar. Sensei,"_ he said finally, pointing at himself.

Duilus' lip twitched with the slightest of a smirk but soon vanished into a frown. The time boy looked discretely to Pungarh and then down at his studies, deep in thought. Kakashi waited patiently for several minutes until Duilus finally looked up. _"You will teach me to spar...?"_

Kakashi nodded.

Duilus' eyes bore into him and a smile grew on his lips, _"I would like to learn. But we must be very careful, do you understand? No one can no, else we both will be in very much trouble."_

Kakashi nodded slowly, piecing what he could together.

_"We will have to wait until the time is right...I will come and get you."_

Kakashi couldn't understand what Duilus had said, but he knew that he was going to teach Duilus to fight and gain a valuable friend and comrade in this foreign place. Their only worry was that no matter what they could not be caught; he didn't want to be left in his cell for days on end ever again.

* * *

_"Is it going to work this time?"_ Pungarh asked, picking up a small vial containing some sort of preserved organ that he could not identify.

_"I know not...however, I have uncovered an essential piece of information, based on the Elder's investigation and our own during Kakashi's past childhood in these past weeks, that will help to release Kakashi's locked memories. If I am able to give the child's memories back,"_ Leobwin explained, never looking up and continually scratching words into a book of papers, _"It should be an easy task to alter the jutsu to make the person retain all of his techniques and knowledge."_

Pungarh approached the doctor, peering down at the desk full of papers, all filled with writing or intricate diagrams of the human bodies or sigils. _"Will you be able to complete the jutsu in time?"_

Leobwin stopped for the first time, his pen held in mid sentence, and looked up to his companion, eyes serious and direct. _"For the first time, I cant tell you with assuredness, yes."_

Pungarh nodded, glad that their life time of work would be rewarded by accomplishing the task that they had set forth to do.

_"Go and retrieve young Hatake. I am ready to test my altered jutsu."_ Leobwin instructed, standing and collecting his papers into one neat stack.

_"Very well,"_ the other replied, nodding and taking long strides toward the door of the small research office.

* * *

Kakashi opened his eyes, immediately alert, when he heard his cell door unlock in the middle of the night. He sat up as the door was opened and two time nin, Pungarh and another that he did not recognize, stepped through.

_"It is time, Hatake,"_ Pungarh spoke, taking large, intimidating steps forward. The man grabbed Kakashi's arm, dragging him out of bed and to his feet. The other man shoved a foul, burlap bag over his head as Pungarh roughly tied a rope too-tight around his wrists behind his back.

"Time for what...?" Kakashi wondered wearily as he was yanked forward, out of the cell. They hadn't treated him this way since he had been captured and they had preformed surgery on him several weeks before. He could only assume that they were going to 'experiment' with him some more. They walked several minutes, the two men leading him roughly. "I have to get out..." Kakashi thought, struggling with the ropes behind him. They were tight and carefully knotted. Each guard kept a hand on his arm, keeping him from running. For now he could do nothing until they let go of him.

They finally entered a large, open room as best as Kakashi could tell by the slight echoes of their bare feet. Several steps into the room, a door was closed loudly, and the bag was removed from his head. Kakashi blinked his eyes to a dimly lit room. Pungarh shoved his shoulder down and he fell ungracefully on his tailbone, wincing as he thought he felt it crack against the stone floor. Pungarh quickly ran a piece of rope between his hands and tied it to a small metal loop stuck in the floor. It was tightened so that his hands were forced to touch the ground and he had to hunch his back and pull his shoulders lower in order to sit without leaning back on his tailbone. He took a moment to sweep his gaze around the room. It was completely empty, besides himself, Pungarh, the other escort, and Leobwin who stood several feet away, shuffling through several sheets of paper. The ground seemed to be marked with some sort of white chalk, forming a large triangle around the central point, where he happened to be sitting. Around him were a serious of circles with the scratchy symbols he was sure was their written language. Pungarh retreated, standing behind Leobwin with crossed arms. The man grunted something that Kakashi neither recognize, nor could make out. Leobwin nodded and handed him the paper, looking to the silver-haired boy with analytical eyes. The doctor stepped forward, stopping at one of the triangle's sides. He closed his eyes, slowly raising his hands into a sort of prayer.

Kakashi pulled at his rope, ignoring the aching in his backside and knowing that whatever they were about to do to him would not be to his benefit. "Stop!" He yelled, unable to hide his masked fear which was growing stronger as Leobwin hardly flinched at his yells. The doctor began chanting, or praying, Kakashi couldn't tell. As he continued, his voice grew louder, filling the air with noise in the small stonewalled room.

"Please!" Kakashi cried, unable to hold back the wetness welling in his eyes, "Why are you doing this?! Just, please stop!"

The sigil began glowing, faintly at first, but growing brighter with each word that the doctor chanted. The room was cast into a blue soft light. Three beams at the points of the triangle began to form, shooting to the ceiling of the room and growing brighter with white light and emitting a vibrating energy. Kakashi's body began to be consumed with the pressure of the energy, which filled his chest, limbs and head. His head felt like it was filling up and squeezing his brain while his chest felt heavy and full. The sound of blood pounded through his ears to the beat of his racing heart. He winced in pain, thrashing at his binds.

Suddenly, Leobwin stopped talking and the doctor slammed his hand to the ground on the edge of the sigil. White light burst forth from where his hand was touching the outside of the triangle and raced along the glowing lines of the sigil until it reached Kakashi.

Kakashi screamed as the light reached him and beat into his body with the force of a mountain. His body became rigid and his eyes rolled back in his head as the energy consumed him. He could hardly breath, but his body forced him to scream as the energy filled him to a point past exploding. His brain felt like is was being dissolved into goo by acid and his body was stiff and unresponsive. There was a flash of light and then the energy disappeared as his conscious drifted into darkness.

* * *

Kakashi sat uncomfortably on his knees in the grass yard with the other three boys, doing their morning meditations. Pungarh sat with them, meditating a few feet away.

He shifted carefully as his bum pained him when he sat on it. He was sure it was at least bruised as sitting for long periods of time and sleeping had become uncomfortable and painful. At the same time, his body felt weak and tired from the night before, as if he hadn't slept in several days. Its responses were slow and clumsy. His head felt hazy and congested, and his thoughts were sporadic and jumbled. The noise in his head and the pains in his body made it hard to still himself enough to meditate.

Duilus eyed Kakashi, peeking secretly from one eye, as the silver-haired boy squirmed and seemed not to be able to calm the thoughts inside his head, evident by the boy's often shifting eyes and fidgeting hands._ "Kakashi, are you well?"_

Kakashi glanced at the older boy, looking down to his lap. _"Tired,"_ he replied simply, not having the energy to think up a whole phrase in the foreign tongue.

_"Did you not sleep well?"_ Duilus asked, pulling the grass stand from his mouth and reaching for a new one.

Kakashi sighed deeply, _"Feel sick."_

Duilus made a motion of nodding, thinking deeply for several minutes. _"You will teach me?"_

"Ah," Kakashi replies, his cool grey eyes looking to the brown-haired boy curiously.

Duilus looked to Pungarh, _"Brother Pungarh,"_

_"Hn?"_ he grunted, nearly agitated at being disturbed during meditation.

_"Kakashi is feeling ill, might I escort him back to his room until he has recuperated?"_ Duilus asked.

Pungarh finally opened his eyes, staring at Kakashi with suspicion.

Kakashi did not have to act sick in the least, he was sure his face looked as lushed and tired as he felt.

"See what will happen if you try something rash, huh, Kakashi?" Pungarh threatened, staring at the boy.

Kakashi made a show of gulping and nodding. Duilus rose to his feel, helping to pull Kakashi up to his feet. Kakashi winced as a jolt of pain shot up his spine, but ignored it, following Duilus slowly. They left the main courtyard and walked down the hallway which led to the smaller courtyard which housed Kakashi's cell. Duilus grabbed his arm and, in an instant, they disappeared down a dark, deserted hallway.

_"Where are we?"_ Kakashi managed to say, unable to see but following the sound of Duilus' bare footsteps as they padded against the stone in front of him.

_"This is the old wing. We were once many people, but we are few now. We are monks and a very ancient people. We do not engage in sexual intercourse and the villages which once surrounded us, from which boys and young men devoted themselves to our lifestyle, have long moved to far reaches of the land, near where your people now live."_ Duilus explained as they continued walking, passing door after door which had been covered in spiderwebs and other creatures of the darkness.

_"How old your people?"_ Kakashi questioned, surprised that such information was being openly given to him. His friendship with Duilus, it seemed, was beginning to pay off.

_"Many hundreds of years older than the people who are from the place you call home, several years into the future."_

_"How?"_ Kakashi could barely keep from interrupting the older boy.

_"We have devoted out time to manipulating time, Kakashi. Before the death of one of our brethren, we preform a jutsu that will revert the elderly one to their childhood age, though nothing is retained from that past life. The men who are here today have been, reincarnated, shall I say, many times before."_ They came to another small grassy courtyard, which looked decrepit and forgotten. A weak light shone in from the whole in the ceiling, the only view of life in the area. The walls were cracked, with dead and decaying vines growing up and the grass had grown somewhat wild and unkempt, small flowers finding their way into the emptiness.

Kakashi's steps slowed as Duilus continued down the three steps into the shin high grass. _"Wait... so I traveled back in time when you guys captured me?!"_

Duilus turned and looked at Kakashi curiously, unable to make out the words when said so quickly.

_"You...take me through time?"_ He struggled to formulate even such a phrase in his shock.

_"Yes, we manipulate time. To us there is an endless amount of time available at our disposal."_

Kakashi's eyes were wide and searching, putting together all the pieces in his mind. These people were not immortal, but manipulated time in order to cheat death. He felt as though his purpose in all of it was closely related, but his fuzzy mind refused to function properly and analyze everything he had picked up from being in this place.

_"Well? Shall we spar then? There is not much time."_

Kakashi looked up, seeing Duilus' eager and expecting expression, grass straw still in his mouth.

He nodded, descending the stairs and joining the older boy as he forced his mind to settle and leave the thinking for later. _"There are three simple techniques,"_ He started, struggling to place the words he was trying to express. _"It is _ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu._"_

"Ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu..." Duilus copied awkwardly.

_"I show you ninjutsu only, it is sparring."_ Kakashi explained, slipping into the fighting stance he had shown Duilus and the others some time before. Kakashi corrected Duilus' copied stance with small taps to the areas which were off. _"Ninjutsu is fight and defend, ok? I hit, you block and continues."_

_"What is the purpose?"_ Duilus questioned as he raised an arm to catch the soft punch Kakashi aimed towards him.

_"Purpose..."_ Kakashi sounded, feeling the word on his tongue, _"To prove worth and show strength."_

Duilus made an 'oh' sound but he was sure that the older boy didn't really understand._ "Try to hit me, do whatever you think."_

Duilus nodded, throwing his arm out towards Kakashi's head.

Kakashi, of course, easily lifted his arm to the slow assault and deflected it downwards. The punch was followed by another attempt and another. _"What else? You know I am better, think other ways to attack."_

Duilus paused a moment in thought, a smirk appearing on one side of his lips. In a blink, Duilus disappeared from Kakashi's sight and he gasped as a hand hit him on the back of the neck. He turned and stared openly at the elder boy.

Duilus held a smug expression on his face, _"I have just learned to spar and, still, I have beaten you, Kakashi."_

"Ah," he agreed, unnerved at the thought.

_"DUILUS!"_ came a voice from the hallway, booming and echoing against the lonely walls.

Duilus' face dropped and he turned slowly towards the voice until his eyes came to rest upon Pungarh and Leobwin watching them with anger and disappointment.

_"B-brother Leobwin and Pungarh..."_ he stuttered, nervously swallowing.

Kakashi's heart picked up pace, his senses tuned up, and adrenaline pumped through his veins as the air around them turned tensed and hostile. He glanced, like a cornered deer, to each of the three people, refusing to go through what they had done to him the night before. He pushed off his foot and ran, jumping on top of the roof, and pumping his legs as fast as his feet would carry him. He had to get away. Now was as good of a chance as any he had before. The compound extend a way, but beyond that he could see forest. Beyond that he did not know, but could see no signs of anything else.

Pungarh growled, watching Kakashi jump up and disappear. His fierce, angry eyes shot to Duilus, who looked scared for his life. _"You have much to explain..."_ he growled through gritted teeth.

_"I think it is best we deliver Kakashi home now."_ Leobwin added, looking to his comrade.

Pungarh nodded and jumped to the roof as well, running after their hostage

Leobwin's gaze lowered to Duilus, _"You have broken our greatest command, Duilus. Something must be done with you now; you have sinned against our fellow mankind. What have you to say for yourself?"_

Duilus averted his eyes to the ground, _"I was curious, Brother Leobwin...I will face any judgement you and the father see fit as retribution for my actions..."_

_"Very well,"_ Leobwin scowled, holding his arm out, _"Come, young Duilus."_

Duilus nodded, walking to his elder and allowing himself to be ushered forth. His eyes never left his feet as they traveled back through the darkness. _"Brother Leobwin, what will you do with Kakashi?"_

Leobwin sighed, wondering if his wish to let Kakashi join time's children had been a mistake. _"He will be take care of."_


	12. Time Arc: Unexpected Appearance

**When Time Stops  
**Chapter 12: _Unexpected Appearance_

Kakashi could barely breathe or think. His breath and the heavy pounding of his clumsy footsteps on the faded, old shingles of the compound was the only sound he could hear amidst the natural ambience of the forest. He didn't dare look back, fearing that he would trip and fall into one of the many openings into the grassy courtyards below, most of which he did not know existed and were overgrown and deserted. The complex, he found out quickly, was much larger than the two courtyards that the people actually used. The rooftop ended suddenly. Coming to an abrupt and unbalanced stop at the roof's edge, the weakening building crumbled slightly under the weight of his feet and he fell forward. He managed to catch himself and turn his free fall into a neat tucked roll. He cried out as he rolled on his tailbone, somehow managing to righting himself into a low crouch on the roughly packed earth below. He glanced in the briefest moment back up at the roof of the building only to find Pungarh's intimidating, angry figure standing at the top of the building and scowling down at him. Kakashi scrambled, throwing himself to his feet and rushing into the thick brush which surrounded the walls of the Time compound. He pushed aside the tall grasses and bushes, many of which had grown wild and towered over his small figure, and ducked below low-hanging branches. Stray branches whipped him in the face and scratched his arm with their pointy thorns. He could hear Pungarh behind him, slowed in his pursuit while trying to fit his large body through the overcrowded forest foliage. For several long minutes, Kakashi ran as fast as he could, successfully putting more distance between himself and his pursuer. He changed his course often, trying his best not to tear down the underbrush and make it easier for Pungarh to follow him. When he felt he could not run one step more and his breathing seemed impossible, he found a massive tree trunk to duck behind. He threw himself behind it, leaning heavily against its massive base and roots, and not minding that he had fallen into an un-ninja-like heap on the other side. Hit bit his thumb, drawing a bead of blood to the surface of his skin and hurried through the well-familiar signs his father had taught him as if it had been a part of walking or talking. He pounded his hand against the ground, and intricate seal forming under his palm, as he summoned his pack. A puff of smoke popped into the air, blowing away to reveal nothing in the space before him.

"What?!" he blanched aloud in disbelief, not allowing himself to believe that he had preformed the jutsu incorrectly. "Summoning jutsu!" He said aloud, slamming his palm against the dirt once more.

"It is impossible to use normal jutsu to bring summons through time." Pungarh spoke suddenly from beside Kakashi.

Kakashi jumped away, not even glancing towards the quickly disappearing smoke to see the result of his jutsu.

"Come, Hatake," Pungarh called through the clearing smoke, offering a hand, "do not make this hard on yourself. You did not think we would let you escape, did you?"

"I've gotten this far!" Kakashi yelled, kicking the dirt at his feet towards Pungarh's face, turning and running into the thicket of foliage once more.

Pungarh growled, wiping the dirt away from his eyes, "Enough playing! I will no longer go easy on you!" Pungarh flickered through space with the aid of his time jutsu, appearing in front of Kakashi.

The young silver-haired ninja slid to the briefest stop, jumping back several yards in an instant. Pungarh appeared next to him instantly. His eyes widened and his muscles forced his arm up to block without any intentional thought. Without pause, Pungarh's arm came at him with a furiously strong punch. Kakashi gasped as he felt, more than heard, as the force of the larger man's punch send a crack through his forearm, causing his head to sway and vision falter for several seconds. His, now broken arm, did little to stop the man, however, and another punch stuck him squarely on the cheek, whipping his face to the side. He fell back, backpedaling several feet, his broken arm against his chest, breathing loudly. His arm was throbbing and he could feel his right eye starting to swell. He fumbled through the pain in his arm to form the familiar seals that his older brother had taught him. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled, forming two identical clones to either side of him. Before the smoke had even cleared, his two clones popped out of existence, the pain of their injuries flooding Kakashi's mind and the smoke of their disappearing aiding in the limited sight. Pungarh appeared suddenly in front of him, grabbing his throat with one massive hand and lifting him up several feet. Kakashi gasped, legs kicking and his good arm scratching at Pungarh's relentless grasp. His vision began to turn dull and darken on the outer edges. He gasped and struggled helplessly. Something caught his eye just beyond Pungarh's shoulder and he glanced towards it with his remaining few seconds of sight. A distance away lay his sensei, Minato, struggling against two equally strong jounin. Minato's hair was thick and wet with sweat, covered in dirt; it whipped against his face as he thrashed against his opponent's restraining grasp.

"Kakashi!" The man yelled desperately, watching his only student be choked to death.

"Sensei," Kakashi muttered weakly has his vision grew darker as it faded to black. 'I have to do something...' he thought weakly as his vision disappeared completely, 'I can't die here!' He gathered chakra in the palm of his left hand, ignoring the pain that the break in his bone caused him. He felt unconsciousness tug at his mind, but fought against it. A surge of energy raced down his arm, joining the chakra in his palm. It was an energy unlike he had ever felt before, strong and electrifying. His consciousness was fading and in a final attempt to get out of his attacker's chokehold, he thrust his palm forward, striking the man with a burst of chakra and energy. The man yelped, dropping Kakashi who fell weakly to the ground. His attacker held the bleeding, tender would on his midsection, yelling in some language he could not understand. Kakashi ignored it, scrambling to his feet even as his vision was slow to return to him, and ran towards his sensei. When he looked to the place that his sensei had been, struggling against two others, however, there was nothing but old trees and overgrown brush. He stopped in bewilderment, confused by the images he was sure had been real. A kick to his spine caught him unaware and a he flew forward, crashing into the trunk of a tree. The breath was forced from his lungs and his head crashed painfully against the rough bark, blood immediately flowing down his eyes and cheeks. He fell to the ground, vision blurring and a wave of nausea washing over him. He shivered, a cold realization of his own weakness and helplessness. He was picked up by the arm, but couldn't find the energy to fight back. Pungarh easily tossed Kakashi over his shoulder, turning and starting back towards the compound.

* * *

Leobwin had escorted Duilus back to the courtyard where the other two boys dutifully meditated. He stopped several feet away from the younger boys, catching Duilus by the arm. "Continue your meditation now and worry not about this at the moment," Leobwin said finally, having berated the boy the entire way back.

Duilus nodded, his eyes cast downward. By now, the other boys had stopped meditating and were curiously watching.

"_No doubt,_" Leobwin continued, "_The Elder will wish to speak with you as you have broken our most revered code._"

"_Elder Leobwin!_" one of the boys shouted, pointing to the far side of the courtyard.

All eyes followed the boys hand, finding Pungarh, slightly dirty and a bit bloodied, walking from a dark hallway, one that led to an old portion of the compound. Over his shoulder was draped a small, dirtied and bloodied form, motionless except for the movement of Pungarh's heavy steps.

"Kakashi?" Duilus gasped in shock. He started towards the two, worried about the person he had come to know as a friend.

"_No,_" Leobwin instructed, catching Duilus on the shoulder, "_You are in far too much trouble as it is._" The doctor walked forward, his worry and anger at the condition of his test subject cooly hid behind a calm and collected emotionless mask. He met Pungarh near the center of the courtyard.

"_Have you killed him?_" the doctor snapped, an edge in his voice as he carefully took the small boy from his companion and lay Kakashi carefully on the grass.

"_He knew not when to quit,_" Pungarh snarled, holding his tender midsection, "_he had quite a punch, the little brat._"

Leobwin quickly examined his test subject, noting the large gash across Kakashi's forehead, a swollen eye, already changing in color, a swelled left arm and numerous smaller cuts and scrapes. Kakashi's eyes were open but dull and unseeing, shifting uneasily and mouth moving slightly without sound. "Go and report to the Elder what has happened. I think it is time for him to leave us, he has caused much turbulence here."

"_Is he well enough?_" Pungarh asked, readjusting his hood over his head.

Leobwin nodded, carefully picking Kakashi up and holding him against his chest, "_He will survive as long as he sees proper medical help when he returns to his own time. Meet me in the transfer room when you have finished, I will need your help sending him forward in time._"

Pungarh nodded, jogging towards the other side of the compound to report to the Elder as he was told.

Leobwin followed, passing by the three boys who were staring intently.

"_Where are you taking him?_" Duilus asked, half fearful for his friend and unbelieving that this thing called 'fighting' could do such a thing to a person; that Pungarh could do such a thing to another human being.

Leobwin ignored him and continued walking, stepping up the stairs and off of the grassy courtyard, headed into the other sector.

"_Leobwin!_" Duilus called, worry and guilt growing in his stomach. He couldn't help but feel responsible for all that had happened to Kakashi and what would happen from here.

* * *

Pakkun breathed rapidly, eyes flickering through the shadows of the small apartment, lit only by the mid-morning sun that shone through the living room window. Nothing. "Naruto!" he yelled, running down the apartment's only hallway and sniffing in each doorway. He ran back through the house and jumped out the window onto an adjacent rooftop. "Dammit Naruto, where are you at a time like this?" He jumped down onto the ground, pumping his legs as fast as they would go and easily weaving through the feet of the villager in the streets as he headed towards the Hokage Tower. He let himself into the building, not stoping even as guards yelled at him. As he ran up the stairs, he found Shizune walking down, carrying a stack of papers. "Shizune!" He panted, "Where's Naruto?!"

"Pakkun?" She frowned, wondering what all the fuss was about. "He's in a meeting with Tsunade-sama and the Council."

The little dog took off before she had even finished. He slid around the corner at the top of the stairs, running to the meeting room and bursting in. He found the blond mop of hair that marked his target, jumping onto the table in front of him.

"Pakkun?" Naruto question, giving the dog a curious look.

"Pakkun!" Tsunade banged the table, enraged that the dog would interrupt them at such a time. "You are interrupting a very important meeting right now."

"Tsunade-sama, council members," he bowed to each, giving them a nod of respect while he tried to catch his breath, "please forgive my intrusion, but somethings wrong with Kakashi."

"What?!" Naruto shot up in his seat, mind flying with all that could have happened.

"Naruto, please," Tsunade scolded, glancing quickly at the Council's disapproving looks towards Naruto's emotional response.

Naruto glanced at Tsunade and the other people seated at the table, quickly calming himself. "What happened, Pakkun?"

"I'm not sure, I saw the pup just yesterday and he was fine, but just a moment ago, Kakashi-kun summoned me. Well, it felt like he tried to, twice, but it didn't work. That never happens."

Tsunade laced her fingers and leaned forward on her elbows, "Kakashi is on a mission with Neji Hyuuga and his genin team," she explained to the council members.

"Kakashi has been, and will continue to be a valuable ninja in our village," the council woman, Koharu commented, "With the present threat from the Time nin, I suggest that someone is sent to check on him."

"I agree," Tsunade nodded, "Naruto, go with Pakkun to check on Kakashi and Neji's team. If it is the Time ninja, you are the only one capable of fighting them."

Naruto nodded, bowing deeply to the Council members. "Come on Pakkun," he called, turning and running out of the door. Pakkun ran after the blond ninja. They exited the Hokage Tower through a third story window, ducking and rolling into a landing on a nearby rooftop.

"Do you know where Kakashi is?" Naruto questioned seriously.

"No, but we should check the road to Wave first; they should've been on their way back."

"Hn, just try to keep up," Naruto warned, before he pushed chakra to his legs, forcing himself to run faster and harder over the rooftops and into the forest.

Pakkun growled, pushing himself harder but just barely able to keep up with Naruto's speed.

* * *

Neji coughed, splattering blood across the dirt, and held his wound with the palm of his hand. His eyes squeezed shut as his coughing fit caused a wave of pain to wash over him. He glanced at each of his genin, noting only minor scrapes. "What happened to Kakashi?"

His genin's worried expressions turned darker.

"We don't know..." Toya supplied, confused and worried.

"He just..." the girl began, eyes watery, "that ninja just disappeared with him! What are we going to do, Sensei? We have to save him!"

"Don't worry," Neji rasped, trying to suppress a cough, "we'll get him back." He clenched his wound and he forced himself to his feet.

"Neji-sensei, we need to bandage your wound before we go after Kakashi." Toya added, seeing the amount of blood that was soaking his teacher's shirt.

A wave of chakra suddenly appeared, coming from the area the genin had been fighting. Neji could feel its presence and looked up, instantly on guard and preparing to fight to protect his students, no matter what state he was in. Instead, his eyes grew wide with what he saw. His students turned to see what he was looking at, sounds of surprise escaping them. Before them, out of nowhere, stood the masked ninja that had taken Kakashi. He stood, head held high, holding Kakashi by the shirt collar. Neji's eyes scanned over Kakashi's body, enraged. Kakashi was hardly standing on his own two feet, mostly held up by the Time ninja. His face was covered in fresh blood, which dripped freely from a gash in his forehead. The boy's face was bruised and beaten and his clothes, which were not the clothes he had been wearing only moments before, were ripped, dirtied, and bloody, evidence of a struggle. Kakashi's eyes lifted to meet Neji's, but Neji wondered if the boy was even aware of where he was and who he was with.

Leobwin examined the Konoha team, noting their shocked expressions, though the leader seemed more angry than anything. He pushed Kakashi forward slightly and the boy tripped on his own two unresponsive feet. He continued to hold on to his test subject, worried that the child would fall and hurt himself further. "_We will be back, please make certain that he is returned to Konoha safely._" He spoke in his own language, words slightly muffled by the bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face in a mask. It was apparent that none of the four Konoha ninja understood him.

Neji frowned and ran forward, determined to get Kakashi back. Before he had taken the first stride forward, the Time ninja had disappeared and Kakashi fell slowly to his knees, eyes slowly closing. It was only seconds before the silver-haired boy fell to the ground.

"Kakashi!" Neji called, hurrying to the boy's side and kneeling next to him. He quickly turned him onto his back and opened Kakashi's eyelids, finding them to bee unseeing and unresponsive. "Toya," Neji called, remaining as calm as he could in this situation and breathing heavily due to his injury. He turned to find his team standing still in shock. The boy looked to his sensei worriedly. Neji ignored their looks of disbelief at the event that had transpired. "Quickly, bring me the med-kit."

Toya nodded, running forward and kneeling next to Kakashi and his sensei, and digging out the small white box.

Neji took it, pulling it open and pulling out the necessary items. He set to wiping away the blood from the gash in Kakashi's forehead and held the wound tightly.

"Neji-sensei!" the girl called, coming to her teacher's side, "You need to treat your own wound! Tell us what to do and we'll take care of Kakashi."

Neji paused, his adrenaline fading away. He nodded, "Here, place your hand on his forehead until the bleeding stops. The girl did as she was told and Neji grabbed a roll of bandages for himself. He pulled up his shirt, wincing as his wound caused him pain, and quickly wrapped the gauze bandages around his chest.

"Toya, go and grab a straight branch, we'll have to set his arm."

The boy nodded, scrambling towards the nearby forest.

"I think the bleeding stopped, Sensei," the girl carefully lifted the cloth to check.

"Good," Neji dug through the med-kit and pulled out another roll of bandages, "Now, wrap this around his head, but not too tight."

"Will he be alright?" the other boy asked, worried about the state of the younger boy.

"What if those ninja come back?" the girl asked worriedly.

"They wont come back, not for a while at least," Neji reassured, "We have to get back to Konoha soon though, Kakashi needs medical attention. He seems to have a pretty bad concussion and that gash will need stitching."

The girl finished wrapping Kakashi's head and Neji carefully tied the sticks to the underside of Kakashi's broken arm, causing the boy to jerk in his sleep. They quickly packed the med-kit back up and Neji stood, picking Kakashi up. He bit his lip, holding back a cry of pain as Kakashi's weight in between his arms pushed against his fresh would. "Let's get going."

"Sensei!" the girl called, the three genin hurrying to catch up with their teacher who had already started walking, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Neji looked behind him to his team of genin. All three of them looked worried and frightened. He smiled at them, inwardly rebuking himself for neglecting to see how his students were handling the entire situation. They had not had years of experience battling, facing the unexpected, and carrying an injured teammate home like he had. His team had only been in light combat and had not faced an encounter of this sort before. He had allowed himself to worry far too much in this situation, but he could not let anything happen to Kakashi, a former friend and sensei to his closest friends. "I'll be fine," Neji finally replied, giving them a reassuring smile.

* * *

"Sensei," Toya spoke up after a couple hours of walking. The sun had begun to set and they had not stopped once, except to give Kakashi a bit of water when he had woken up briefly, mumbling incoherently.

"Hm?" Neji barely heard him, focused instead on placing one foot infront of the other and leading his team back home.

Toya squinted, searching end of the road, "Who's that?"

Neji looked to the horizon, noticing a figure running towards them. He stopped walking, his team slowing to a halt next to him. The figure was getting closer and Neji could see a small animal running alongside the figure. "Naruto?" He could see the faint glint of light shining on his golden hair.

"Who's Naruto?" Toya asked.

"A friend," Neji replied evenly while a wave of relief washed through him; relief that help had come. He was exhausted, an though he would have pushed through the night with his team, he was grateful that help had come and he could rest his injured body.

Naruto crossed the distance between them in no time. "Neji!" Naruto called from several feet away, waving at them. He slowed to a stop in front of them, eyes growing wide when he noticed Kakashi, passed out in Neji's arms. "Neji, what happened?!" Naruto yelled, looking over Kakashi who seemed to have been beaten badly, with a black, swollen eye, a bandaged forehead, and bloodied, dirtied clothes.

"We were attacked by Time nin," Neji explained, handing Kakashi over to Naruto, "They took him, and when they came back, Kakashi was like this."

Naruto took Kakashi, holding him tenderly in his arms and looking at his young sensei with a pang of guilt.

"How did you know that we were attacked?" Toya asked curiously, eyeing the little pug near Naruto's feet.

"He tried summoning me," Pakkun suppled, licking his sore paws.

"Tried?" Neji questioned with a raised eyebrow, looking to the dog for further explination.

The dog nodded, "I felt the pull of the summoning technique twice, but somehow it didn't work."

"Strange..." Neji thought aloud, "He was only gone a few minutes."

Naruto shifted Kakashi carefully."We should head back, Kakashi needs to see a doctor." He turned and made to head back to Konoha.

"Naruto," Pakkun called, "I think we should make camp tonight."

Naruto whirled, face portraying his confusion, "Kakashi needs help!"

"You still have much to learn pup!"" The dog scolded, with a leveling stare. "Can you not see that Neji is injured as badly as Kakashi? It is nearly dark, we should rest for the night."

Naruto looked to Neji, mouth slightly agape in realization. He looked towards the blood which had soaked through Neji's shirt, which he had assumed was Kakashi's but now realized was Neji's. "Neji...I'm sorry, I didn't realize..." Naruto stammered.

"Ah, its fine," Neji forced a half smile, holding his wound.

Pakkun walked towards the side of the road, "Pups! Follow me, well set up camp and get some water boiling to treat their wounds."

"Hai!" the three genin chorused, following after the dog.

They got a fire started quickly and in no time, their tents were set up and night had come over them. Naruto had sent a clone back to Konoha early on to relay the information he had learned thus far. He had laid Kakashi inside his tent, with Pakkun curled up next to the boy, and left him to rest after redressing his wounds. He sat outside the tent with Neji, a ways away from the fire.

Neji worked off his shirt, gasping painfully as the skin around his would was stretched, and threw the fabric aside into the dirt.

"Yikes," Naruto exclaimed, seeing that the entire front of Neji's bandages were soaked with blood. "I'm sorry you got involved in all of this." Naruto watched Neji struggle to unwrap the bandage, and wince at each movement.

"It's fine," Neji replied, looking up at his blond friend for a moment, "I knew he would be my responsibility to watch over once asking him to join us on this mission."

"Here," Naruto moved forward, reaching for the bandage, "let me help you." He kneeled in front of Neji, who embarrassedly looked away. Naruto carefully unwound the wrapping.

Neji sucked in a painful breath of air as the bottom layers were removed, the blood having dried to the cloth.

"Sorry..." Naruto finally removed the last of the soiled bandages and grabbed on of the clean, wet cloths to wipe away the blood. His brow frowned intently, his mind wondering about what had happened during the fight and how Kakashi had been so injured in the span of only a few minutes. "How many of them were there?" He questioned to ease the growing silence.

"There were two, one with bandages over his face and the other, a larger man with a hood. The larger one kept me distracted while the other fought Kakashi." Neji replied, looking to where his genin sat, softly chatting on a rotting log near the fire. He was glad they had escaped any serious injuries.

"How did Kakashi do fighting that Time guy?" Naruto asked, dipping the cloth in water and wringing it out. He carefully blotted around the injury, careful not to cause too much pain.

"I'm not too sure, I had a hard enough time trying to land a hit on my own opponent, but he lasted longer than I thought he would've against opponents of that level. You seem to be bringing him up well...again," Neji chuckled lightly.

Naruto smiled, craning his neck back and examining his work before grabbing a new roll of bandages. "I just hope I don't mess him up." Naruto carefully wrapped the bandage, slowly working it around Neji's chest.

"Kakashi said you've been in plenty of meetings recently."

Naruto laughed, "Yea, Tsunade's got me coming to all sorts of them."

"Is it about Kakashi?" Neji asked, one eyebrow raised and white eyes focused on Naruto's expression.

"Oh no," Naruto smiled, "It's much bigger than that, but, of course, it's top secret."

Neji chucked at Naruto's poorly hidden excitement. "Well, if you are still tied up, Kakashi is welcome to train with my team. He and Toya are a good match; Kakashi is quite skilled with the tanto."

"With a tanto?" Naruto questioned, "I haven't taught him how to use that weapon."

Neji shrugged, "He seemed to remember it."

Naruto glanced up to Neji's face, quickly evading his friend's gaze. "He...sometimes he mixes up whats happening with his old life, you know? I don't really know how it works exactly."

"Ah," Neji replied, looking off in thought. "Naruto," Neji started seriously, frowning at the blond after several moments of silence, "They kept him alive for a reason; they're going to come back."

Naruto slowed, not looking up at his friend, "I know."

Several moments passes and neither of them spoke.

"Sensei..." a weak voice called from behind them where Kakashi lay inside the tent.

Naruto turned, looking towards the tent, bandage in hand.

"Go," Neji smiled, taking the roll from Naruto, "I can handle it from here, thank you."

Naruto smiled and walked over to the tent, ducking inside. Kakashi lay exactly where he had left him, though now his grey eyes were open and searching. "Kashi," Naruto said softly, kneeling beside Kakashi and gently pushing the soft grey locks out of the boy's face.

Kakashi looked towards him, searching his face for something, "Minato-sensei?"

Naruto started, eyes wide in surprise. Kakashi had never mentioned Minato before. He was sure that the boy was confusing the past and present in his delirious state. "Yea," he replied softly, unwilling to jar Kakashi's delirious thoughts.

"My head hurts, Sensei." Kakashi managed, closing his eyes.

"Ok, ok," Naruto reached for a pack that Neji had given him and pulled out a couple pills. "Here, Kakashi-kun, take these." He put them in Kakashi's mouth and held the boy's head up while giving him a sip of water.

Kakashi lay back on his meager pillow, sighing and looking to the blond, "I tried my best, Sensei."

Naruto smiled, gently stroking Kakashi's unmasked cheek, "I know Kashi, you did well."

Kakashi closed his eyes, petting Pakkun's head with his good hand, "I'm tired."

"Sleep," he assured his young charge, "I'll be right here."

* * *

A knock sounded at the door and Kakashi wearily blinked his eyes open, glancing around the hospital room. He had been admitted only a few days ago when Naruto and Neji's team had admitted him, though he had been asleep most of the time. A figure with messy dark hair that was pulled back, approached the side of his bed.

"Toya," Kakashi croaked, his voice scratchy from the long sleep. He pushed himself up with his one good arm, wincing as his head throbbed.

The boy, who was several years older, looked away from Kakashi's piercing grey eyes. "Sorry I woke you up...I was just visiting Neji-sensei and thought I'd see how you're doing."

Kakashi nodded, "I'm fine."

"That's good to hear. We were all...really worried about you." Toya replied, at a loss for what else to talk about.

Kakashi stared at the older boy, watching him fidget under the scrutiny. His face was a perfect mask of his emotions, which churned with hurt and loneliness. It was still fresh in his mind how Toya and his teammates had treated him like an outcast, a freak. Kakashi laughed sourly to himself; he realized now that he was some sort of freak - a science experiment. "That's surprising, coming from you."

Toya's eyes shot up, looking at Kakashi, and quickly averted his gaze. "I'm sorry we treated you like shit the other day. You were really brave to stand up to that Time guy by yourself, even if you did get captured in the end." The dark haired boy smiled in hopes that his apology would be accepted.

Kakashi looked away, smiling, unbeknown to Toya, behind the mask that covered his face. It felt good to be complimented by someone, even a genin, who was older than he was.

"Anyways," Toya continued, drawing Kakashi's attention back from his thoughts, "Neji-sensei thought it'd be a good idea if you came and trained with us sometimes. You should come. I'll show you how to properly wield a tanto."

Kakashi nodded just as the door to his room swung open, two familiar blonds entering, followed by a dark haired woman Kakashi remembered seeing around the Hokage Tower. The boy's eyes immediately snapped to them. "Hokage-sama," Kakashi greeted evenly. He bowed lightly with his head while Toya did the same.

"Kakashi, you're awake!" Naruto smiled, filling the room with the warmth of his smile. Kakashi smiled in response behind his mask.

"Toya," Tsunade addressed the boy with an air of superiority, "if you would leave us?"

Toya nodded, "Hai, of course Tsunade-sama!" He turned to Kakashi, "Training field one, okay?" Kakashi nodded and Toya jogged out of the room, leaving the four alone.

"What is this all about?" Kakashi asked, looking towards Tsunade for an answer.

She smiled briefly, pulling a chair from the side of the room and sitting next to Kakashi's bed, the dark-haired woman standing next to her. "I've come to ask you about what happened with the Time ninja, now that you have recovered a bit."

Kakashi glanced towards his brother, who's face was masked of all emotion and unreadable. "What do you need to know?" Kakashi asked, looking back to the blond woman next to him.

She shrugged, "Anything that you can remember, starting from when they first showed up. Any information you have on them is valuable in helping me protect you, and the rest of Konoha, from them. My assistant, Shizune will be writing down any information you have to give us so that is can be looked at and learned from."

Kakashi frowned, slightly troubled by that statement. He thought back, to the weeks before, when the Time nin had first shown themselves. "There were two of them when the showed up; the bigger one, he wears a hood, his name is Pungarh. He's the only one that speaks our language and is their main fighter." Kakashi began, glancing at each of the adults, all of whom wore blank expressions. Tsunade looked to Shizune, making sure she was recording all that Kakashi said. "The other, Leobwin, is their other fighter, but he's also their doctor. He's very important; he's the one in charge of...whatever they're doing to me."

"I see," Tsunade said after Kakashi had grown silent for several seconds, "Leobwin is the one who fought you and took you when you were with Neji and his team?" Kakashi nodded in response to her question, meeting her golden eyes with his own grey ones. "Where did you go when they took you?"

"I don't know." Kakashi frowned, remembering the place. "Is was a really big compound, filled with rooms and courtyards, but there weren't many people there. It's an old place; I couldn't see anything I recognized from the rooftop."

"Did they do anything to you?" Tsunade asked carefully, watching for any hint of hidden emotion behind the mask Kakashi wore so well to cover his emotions.

"When I first woke up there, I was strapped down on an operating table."

Naruto stirred, but when Kakashi looked towards him, his expression remained blank, brilliant blue eyes watching him.

"Pungarh said they wanted to 'look inside me,' but they did something to make me pass out. After I woke up again, there was an incision that was stitched and bandaged right here." Kakashi pointed to the injury, which was nearly healed by now.

Tsunade nodded, "I saw that wound; it seems to have been healing for quite a while now."

Kakashi nodded, "I was there for a couple months at least, but time seemed to pass slower there, it's hard to tell exactly."

The adults expression turned surprised. Tsunade quickly collected herself, " What happened next?"

"I think that they forgot about me in my cell for a while, but when I finally got out, they took me to their Elder, a very old man, who looked inside my head and searched through my memories. After that, I stayed with the other children - there are only three children there."

"Three?" The Hokage clarified, finding it hard to believe.

Kakashi nodded, "They are monks and I learned from one of the children, Duilus, that people are no longer joining their community, or something like that, I couldn't understand everything. They also don't believe in fighting."

"Really?" The blond woman asked curiously.

Kakashi nodded, "Pungarh and Leobwin are the only ones who are allowed to fight." Kakashi bit his lib, shuffling through what else he could remember. "I don't know what they're doing with me, but I think tit has to do with the lack of devotees or something, like I'm an experiment. I remember them taking me to this room," Kakashi explained, frowning and looking down in thought as he tried to remember exactly what the room looked like and what had happened, "and there was this...sigil, covering the whole floor. Pungarh chained me to the middle of it and Leobwin did something that made the sigil glow with energy. The energy traveled through the sigil and came to me; it burned and...I felt like I was exploding - my head hurt really bad."

"Do you remember what it looked like?" Tsunade asked quickly, as if she had been trying not to interrupt, but Kakashi shook his head. "How did you get your concussion and broken arm?" she questioned carefully.

"I escaped." Kakashi looked towards the Hokage, "I ran into the forest and Pungarh followed me. I tried summoning Pakkun, because I knew I couldn't win against him on my own, but it didn't work. Pungarh said it was impossible to summon something into another time with just a normal jutsu. I tried to get away, but..." Kakashi looked down, remembering how helpless he had been and how futile his efforts to get away were. "I don't remember anything else."

Tsunade smiled, laying a hand on his arm in comfort, "Thank you, Kakashi, this information will be very helpful for the next time they come back, if they come back."

Naruto shuffled and Kakashi looked up to him, wondering if he would have anything to say to cheer him up. The blond was masked of emotion but never stopped staring at Kakashi. He gave Kakashi a quick, forced smile and turned, walking determinedly out of the room.

Kakashi's expression turned hurt as he watched his brother leave, "Naruto!"

"He'll be back," Tsunade comforted, smiling softly, "He's just upset."

Kakashi frowned at her. He knew his brother felt guilty about the whole thing. He thought back to the conversation he had with Sakura, about her and Naruto being willing to die to protect him. "It wasn't his fault."

Tsunade nodded, smiling sadly. She stood after a moment, straightening her coat. "I've got to go, Kakashi, I have a lot of work to do. Get some rest, okay? I will be back in a few days to check on you."

Kakashi nodded and the two left, leaving him alone in the sterile hospital room. He leaned back, easing his head onto his pillow and resting his broken arm across his chest. Pungarh and Leobwin would come back for him again, he was sure of that. He wondered intently why - why they would choose him as a test subject for the time jutsu they were working on. Obviously it was a dangerous jutsu, if they were using someone else to try it out on. He struggled for hours, trying to figure out why they had picked him out of everyone but came to no conclusion. "I have to get stronger." He concluded aloud, remembering the look Naruto had in his eyes before leaving the room. His brother worked so hard, trying to be stronger enough to protect him. If this situation had taught him anything, it was that Naruto wouldn't always be around to save him. Sure, Naruto cared deeply for him and did everything he could to protect him, but in the end, the only person who could protect him, Kakashi decided, was himself.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_* Edit 05/03/2013 - small change that will speed up the story, made kakashi's stay with the Time ninja last "a couple months at least" but it couldve been longer as the Time ninja's time and Konoha's time run at different speeds._

And so we've come to the end of Kakashi's stay with the Time ninja. Its weird, having to reorient myself and write about this whole other set of people again!

I really adored the scene with Naruto and Neji after they set up camp. I don't know why I decided to put it in there, but it turned out to be my favorite part of the chapter. I feel like the convo flows pretty well and the two show a side of themselves that they normally keep hidden.

I've been doing some sketching of this story as of late. Normally, before I start a story, I gather all my thoughts and ideas and write them down in Evernote, but Iv'e reached the end of my first chunk of pre-planned story ideas (at least until later in Kakashi's life) and I've been working out in my head what should happen next. All that to say that it has led to some doodles of Kakashi and Naruto as I figure out their ages, appearance, and personalities from here forward. I posted a few of the sketching on my deviant Art account linked here: #/d5sx8op

Its four sketches,

top left: Kakashi around the time when he first started living with Naruto,

top right: Naruto around the same time,

bottom left: ANBU kakashi,

and bottom right: Kakashi from the end of chapter 8 (I could've seen him falling asleep there if Neji hadn't come looking for him )


	13. Enter Teamates

**When Time Stops**  
Chapter 13:_ [Enter Teammates]_

**Authors note:**

There may be a little confusion as to what time period exactly the Time ninja are from and just to clear it up a little bit, they live in a time long before the ninja nations were developed, but after the great tailed beasts roamed the land (I think ive heard that before, maybe i read it in a fanfic or something? idk haha)

* * *

Kakashi had trained hard in the years since he had been taken by Pungarh and Leobwin. He trained everyday, with our without Naruto, as the blond had become increasingly busy, spending more time at the Hokage tower. Whenever Naruto wasn't busy at the tower, however, he trained Kakashi or they went on missions together, though they were never gone longer than a day. Tsunade had decided to let Kakashi join other teams on missions, in some half-assed attempt to teach him teamwork, since Naruto had been too busy to do so himself. None the less, Kakashi pushed himself no mater what he was doing. If he was running errands, he would get it done faster; picking up fallen branches, he would carry more; learning a new technique, he wouldn't stop until it was mastered. He had started to treat every mission, whether is was a simple D ranked mission in the village, or a C ranked mission fighting bandits, as if it were a life and death mission, crucial to the survival of himself, his team, and to the general wellbeing of Konoha. He followed the ninja code strictly; it had not failed him so far in his life and proved to help him in difficult situations when he had no one else to turn to. His sensei always teased him that he was far too serious for his age. The only time the blond didn't complain about his serious demeanor was on the training field, where Naruto was constantly pushing him past his limits in order to grow.

Kakashi panted, finding it hard to catch his breath, breathing through the tight fabric over his face. Beads of sweat dripped down the side of his face, soaking his mask and making his breath moist. He coughed, wiping his arm across his forehead.

"Keep trying, Kakashi!" Naruto encouraged from his seat on a tree branch above as he watched Kakashi and the boy's three clones attempt to crumple leaves using his lighting nature chakra, just as Kakashi had taught him all those years ago.

Kakashi held the leaf in the palm of his hand, staring at it with irritated, determined eyes. He had not been able to influence it yet with his chakra, even using this unconventional method of training with clones. Even simply making so many clones repeatedly was taxing for him. It always amazed him to see the sheer number of clones his sensei could create. He often wondered how Naruto had the capacity to hold and use all of that chakra. He clapped his hands together, the leaf securely between his palms, focusing his entire mind and body towards the task.

Naruto smiled softly, watching his young sensei work so hard to learn to manipulate nature. Kakashi had changed since the time when he had first started caring for his young sensei. He had grown up; he lacked the smiles, the laughter, and the carefree attitude of a child. Kakashi had become far too serious for his age and quite pessimistic too. He often worried about it - worried that he had caused Kakashi to change in this way by not being around enough. It seemed he was always busy, training and learning, or sitting in meetings and discussing Konoha's future. After a moment more of watching his young sensei, he turned back to his work, which was balanced precariously on his lap. He diped his brush into a small vial of ink and carefully painted a seal onto one of the specially made kunai he was holding. His father had used kunai in his jutsu, he had learned from Tsunade. Thus far he had been successful in jumping to places around the village where he had placed seals, such as the Hokage tower, his apartment, the training feild, and Ichiraku Ramen. His ability to transport himself across town in a flash had made his busy, hectic schedule just a little bit easier to manage, but he still struggled with working his jutsu into a usable form that he could use during combat, something he hoped the special kunai he was working on would fix.

Naruto felt, rather than saw, a presence appear a few feet away from where Kakashi was training down below, but ignored it after discerning that the person was no threat to them. Worried that stopping would cause him to mess up the careful strokes of the seal he was painting, he ignored the presence and focused on his task.

"Sensei," Kakashi called a moment later, staring up at his teacher from below, beads of sweat rolling down his face only to collect in his mask.

"Hm?" Naruto hummed, making the last mark on the seal with painfully slow care. When the mark was finished he set the brush down and held the kunai up in admiration, eyes shining, "Ah, there! What do you think Kashi?" He smiled and looked down to the silver-haired boy, who stared back at him with a serious and annoyed expression. Naruto glanced to the presence which had joined them and sat crouched near Kakashi. Naruto smiled, "Bird-san," he called to his friend, easily identifying the familiar ANBU of Konoha. He carefully closed his books and stashed his materials away into his pouch, jumping down from the tree and landing lightly in a crouch next to the two. "What brings you here?"

The ANBU stood after being addressed, ignoring the usual glare aimed at him from the young genin due to his presence, "The Hokage requests your presence."

Naruto sighed loudly and grinned, "How did she ever get along without me? Thanks, Bird, I'll head over."

Bird nodded, "Until next time, Naruto, Kakashi-kun," and disappeared.

"Will you be alright training by yourself for a while, Kashi?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi's glare was turned towards his sensei now that the bearer of bad news had left. "You promised to train with me today."

Naruto smiled, the smiled that Kakashi could tell was fake. The blond reached out and ruffled Kakashi's hair, "Sorry, Kakashi, we'll train together a different day, I promise. I'll see you tonight for dinner at Ichiraku Ramen, though, okay?" Naruto smiled one last time at his disappointed and angry looking young sensei, feeling a pang of guilt as those accusing and hurt grey eyes bore into him. He quickly ran through his jutsu and disappeared before either of them could say another word.

Kakashi crossed his arms and stared at the spot his teacher had been only a second ago. He yelled suddenly in frustration, grabbing a rock near his foot that was nearly as big as his fist and threw it without warning at one of the clones of himself. The clone looked surprised for an instant before he disappeared in a puff of smoke, Kakashi absorbing everything he clone had learned and felt. He looked at the leaf in his hand, which seemed no worse for wear than when he had started training. He stuffed it into his pocket and started towards the village, his last clones disappearing with a pop behind him.

* * *

"Granny!" Naruto yelled suddenly appearing in the Hokage's office.

Tsunade smiled and looked up to the blond, not at all startled at his unexpected appearence. Naruto had hardly touched a door since learning his lightning jutsu. She easily set aside her impending paperwork pile of doom and gave her full attention to her young successor in training.

"What did you need me for this time?" Naruto questioned, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "I promised Kakashi I would train with him today and now he's mad at me." Naruto frowned, unintentionally pouting a little bit despite his age. "He won't stop glaring at me with those eye - you know the ones, right? - the look that says he'll never forgive what you're doing."

The hokage smiled, she knew the eyes Naruto spoke of all too well. "Good news then, because starting now you two will have plenty of time to train together."

Naruto snapped his head up, eyes sharp, "Are you firing me?"

"Oh no," Tsunade laughed, "Not at all, but you'll be taking a little break from your duties of Hokage-in-training for a while and you will be getting the final two members of your genin team today." The busty blond leaned back in her chair, watching the shocked expression slowly play out over Naruto's features.

"You're finally assigning me a genin team?" Naruto walked up to Tsunade's desk, his interest perked.

"Mhmm," she nodded, smiling.

"How do you think Kakashi will take it?" Naruto started suddenly, "He's had me to himself as his sensei for two years, and now he's suddenly getting teammates..."

"Kakashi will do fine," the Hokage reassured the blond whom she had grown to see as a son, "for him, getting teammates means he will be able to go on more missions and spend more time training with you. It's a good step forward in the direction of becoming a stronger ninja."

"True," the blond agreed, his gaze flicking towards outside, seeing a messenger hawk be sent off and fly towards the edge of town.

"In addition to that," the Hokage continued, leaning forward and opening a drawer to pull out a pristine, blank form, "Depending on how well he does with his new teammates, I thought he might like to take the chunin exam at the end of this summer, if you think he is prepared enough." She handed the paper to Naruto, who accepted it slowly and scanned over its contents. "Don't worry about that right now though, your new recruits should be finishing up at the academy any minute now."

"Right, I'd better get going then." Naruto folded the form and tucked it into his vest pocket. "See you later old lady!" The blond grinned cheekily, disappearing with a handseal before the scroll thrown his way had a chance to hit him.

* * *

Naruto perched himself in a tree next to the class in which Iruka was lecturing his graduate students. He remembered the lecture well, as if he had been graduating from the academy only yesterday. His academy teacher's words were inspirational and encouraging to him back then and he had held on to them throughout his ninja career. "Starting today," his teacher had said, "you are the weapon of Konoha. Today you become adults and will soon put your life on the line to protect your village and the people who are important to you. Today, your life begins and starting now you will work to become the strongest ninja Konoha has ever had." Naruto chuckled at himself. He couldn't quite remember the rest of the lecture. He was sure that his mind had trailed off, imagining what it would be like to be the strongest ninja of Konoha - to be the Hokage. It seemed like he would reach his goal of becoming Konoha's important person after all. He pulled his special kunai out from his holster, looking over the seal he had carefully painted on it just a short time ago He carefully preformed a series of hand seals and pressed his palm against the seal on the side of the kunai, activating it with a small display of blue light. "I guess this is as a time as any to try this out."

Iruka proudly finished his speech, the same one that he gave to each of his graduating classes in hopes that he would inspire them all to be the best ninja that they could be. He pulled his eyes away from watching his excited students squirm in their seats and down to the clipboard in his hands. "I will begin to assign you to your teams. When I have finished, wait here until your sensei comes to get your team."

"Hai!" the class chorused loudly.

"Team 1 will be led by Aburame Shino. The genin that will join this team will be -" Iruka stopped short when a kunai crashed through the window next to his desk, shattering the glass. Iruka shielded his head from the flying glass as his students screamed in surprise. When he looked up, a certain blond troublemaker stood before him, arrogantly posing in front of the class, right next to the kunai which has stuck itself into one of the wooden floorboards

Iruka fumed, his face growing red with anger. "NARUTO!" He yelled, just like he had nearly everyday when the man had been in the academy.

The newly graduated academy student stared at the blond ninja with awe and curiosity.

Naruto turned to his teacher casually, walking to the older man and slinging his arm around the teacher's shoulders. "Iruka-sensei, It's been a while, huh? I'm here for my team." He smiled, happy to see the man again.

Iruka's blood boiled inside of him, he crossed his arms, trying his best to bite his tongue. "That window is coming out of your paycheck."

"Yea, yea," the blond laughed, waving the window away. "Who are you gonna give me?"

"That wasn't a 'cool' move, Naruto; you're only showing your genin how reckless and childish you can be." Iruka grumbled under his breath, as he flipped through his roster.

"We'll see about that, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka smiled and shook his head. He could hardly stay mad at his blond former-student. Naruto always made him smile, no matter what kind of trouble he created. "Let's see, Hideaki and Tana, you will be on Team 10 with Naruto."

"Yes! A boy with red hair near the back of the class jumped up to his feet, "the badass sensei is mine!"

Naruto grinned at Iruka, wiggling his eyebrows, silently rubbing in his victory.

Iruka could only roll his eyes at Naruto's tactics.

Naruto walked back to his kunai, picking it up. He briefly inspected it for damage, quickly stowing it away in his holster. "Team 10," he addressed, speaking loudly over the entire class. His demeanor changed, suddenly serious, "Meet me on the roof in 2 minutes - don't be late," he ordered right before he vanished with a quick hand seal.

"Wha-?" The tall red head in back voiced, wondering how his new sensei had vanished. His green eyes scanned the front of the room. Hisshort red hair was uncombed and messy still from the nights slumber. He wore a loose-fitting green tank, standard blue ninja trousers, leg wraps and sandals.

"Iruka-sensei!" Tana spoke, standing up. She had short black hair, held beck by her new ninja forehead protector which she used as a headband. She wore a pristine, long-sleeved, white tunic, navy fabric tied around her waits, paired with navy leggings that stopped just above her knees, and open-toed ninja boots. Her pupils were white, a symbol of the Hyuuga family's kekkai genkai, but her voice was controlled and confident as she spoke over the entire class. "Why is it that you only assigned our team two members?"

"You will be meeting your other teammate shortly, now, go or else you'll be late for your first meeting with your team!"

The two ran down the stairs, and slid out the door, running as fast as they could down the school hallways.

"Where are the stairs to the roof?" Tana called to her teammate as they ran.

"Hell if I know!" the redhead yelled back, searching around furiously for some sign of stairs.

"Now," Iruka continued, clearing his throat after after his students finally calmed down from the commotion from the two genin and their sensei had made, "Where was I..."

* * *

"Ah, you made it just in time - it was down to the last seconds." Naruto greeted, sitting on folded legs on the edge of the rooftop.

The two genin fell to their hands and knees at the top of the stairwell, panting and trying to catch their breath. "I didn't even know there were stairs coming up here." Tana gasped, her short black hair blowing out of her face with each labored exhale.

"Of course there are stairs. Come, sit down," Naruto motioned to a small raised concrete block in front of him, the one he and his teammates had gathered on when meeting their sensei for the very first time. Your other teammate should be here soon."

Tana and Hideaki glanced at each other.

"Our other teammate," Hideaki asked cautiously, "who is it?"

Tana nodded in mutual curiosity, "Iruka only called the two of us, why isn't our other teammate graduating from the academy as well?"

Naruto smiled, absentmindedly waving his hand around as he spoke, "Well, your other teammate is already a genin. He's been my only student for a little while now."

Hideaki perked up, "He must be strong then! I knew I was on the strong team." He crossed his arms, smiling smugly to himself.

"Yes," Naruto agreed, "he is quite strong for a ninja his age."

Just then, Kakashi landed lightly into a crouch on the rooftop next to the three of them, having jumped from an adjacent rooftop. Kakashi stopped short, spotting the familiar redhead boy, his childhood nemesis from his academy days.

Hideaki stood, his face a look of utter horror, pointing accusingly at the silver-haired boy. "YOU!"

"He's my teammate?" Kakashi asked incredulously of his sensei. Naruto nodded sheepishly. Kakashi stood slowly, crossing his arms and steeling his expression. "Hideaki? Weren't you supposed to graduate last year since we were in the same second year class together?"

"Shut up!" Hideaki shouted in anger, eyebrows furrowed over his blazing green eyes.

"Wait you two know each other?" Tana asked, surprised at the turn of events.

Kakashi nodded.

"Sensei!" Hideaki called, turning to the blond, "I thought this was the strong team! This shrimp isn't strong enough to be on my team!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, wondering sincerely how Hideaki thought he was stronger than himself. "I should be asking that of you."

Hideaki growled. "You bastard!"

"Now, now," Naruto smiled nervously, jumping to his feet and walking between the boys, "Let's just calm down a bit. Kakashi, don't make matters worse, and Hideaki, Kakashi has been training with me for two years now and is not the same person that you knew at the academy. Not to mention, your file says you graduated with the lowest marks in your class and failed to pass your genin exam the first year around."

Hideaki harumphed, looking away.

"We're all teammates now, so lets put our grudges behind us and start fresh," Naruto finished, unperturbed by Hideaki's angry mumbling.

"Just stay out of my way, dead last." Kakashi said finally, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Hideaki turned his head, eye flashing to Kakashi, piercing holes through the boy's brain.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking at the two boys and hoping they would eventually get over their issues with each other. "Let's al meet up for dinner, Ichiraku Ramen at 8 o'clock, okay?" He suggested to the bunch, "I'll explain your genin exam and we can all get to know each other over a nice bowl of ramen - my treat!" The blond waved, forming a seal and disappearing before any of them could refuse.

Kakashi turned and walked towards the stairwell.

"Wait up, Kakashi!" Tana called, scrambling to her feet and jogging after the boy.

Hideaki reluctantly followed after his new teammates, trailing behind them.

"I'm Tana," She introduced herself, walking next to him and smiling.

Kakashi cast a sidelong glance at her, but said nothing.

She pursed her lips, looking away awkwardly, "So, what is this 'genin exam' that Naruto-sensei mentioned?"

"I don't know; I didn't have a test." Kakashi replied shortly as they exited the academy, past the student that were meeting their new teachers. Kakashi fished out the leaf he had stuck in his pocket from earlier that morning. He stared at it, pinched between two fingers, examining its structure, as if that would help him at all in learning to use his chakra element. He had been working at it for a few weeks now and still he couldn't manage to effect it in the slightest.

"I've got to go." He said suddenly, stuffing the leaf back into his pocket.

"Huh? Where?" Tana asked, hoping she could use the time until dinner to get to know her teammates a little better.

"To train."

"Can we come?" She asked hopefully

"No."

Tana frowned, coming to a stop in the middle of the road as they watched Kakashi continue on down the street. "What a jerk."

"Tana, you wouldn't want to train with that shrimp, anyway. Trust me, I know him; he's a selfish asshole." Hideaki spoke next to her.

Tana gave him a doubtful look. "Even so, he's already been a genin for a while now, he must know a lot of things that we don't know yet." Tana took off down the road, jogging after Kakashi and leaving Hideaki stammering.

"But he's just a little kid! What could he possibly know?!" He called after her.

Tana looked back, shouting over her shoulder, "We wont know unless we go and see!"

Hideaki huffed, shaking his head, "This is so stupid..." He ran after Tana, quickly catching up and trailing Kakashi with her. They followed him to the edge of Konoha to the training grounds. They squatted behind a rather large bush directly under a tree that was near the opening to the field, watching Kakashi who had stopped in the center of the field.

Kakashi preformed several seals, summoning three shadow clones. The three clones walked to a bush, each picking a single leaf and returning to the center of the field. Kakashi breathed heavily, feeling the tax on his body after summoning so many clones. It never ceased to amaze him just how many clones his sensei could summon without being effected in the slightest. He cracked his neck to each side, and closed his eyes, focusing on the flow of chakra through his body as he held the leaf between his two palms.

"Clones? Hah! What's he going to do with a few stupid clones and a few leaves?" Hideaki jeered.

"Hush!" Tana turned to the redhead and snapped, whispering harshly, "You're going to blow our cover." She quickly looked back over the field, making sure they hadn't been found out. "I really do wonder what he's doing, though."

"Well, it doesn't look like anything except wasting our time."

"Either that," Tana countered, "or it's something advanced enough that we don't even know about it."

Hideaki tsked, rolling his eyes and leaning back against the tree trunk.

"Byakuugan," She spoke softly, activating her kekkai genkai.

"Woah!" Hideaki exclaimed, watching her eyes.

Tana's face turned to an expression of surprise.

"What is it?" Hideaki questioned, crawling next to her and looking over the field himself, as if he could see what she saw.

Tana smiled, "That's so cool - his clones aren't normal clones. They're each molding their own chakra separately from each other."

"No way.." Hideaki breathed, "That's so...cool, I guess." His own admonition of Kakashi's coolness disturbed him and he shoved the thought away, hoping that by ignoring it he would forget it ever happened. "Well, what are they doing?"

"I'm not entirely sure..." Tana admitted, frowning, "They're molding their chakra into the leaf."

"To the leaf?" Hideaki dead panned, "That's stupid. What does he think will happen by putting chakra into a leaf. I guess he's a stupid shrimp after all."

The two waited there for nearly half an hour and Kakashi had continued to do the same thing, dispelling his clones once and creating three new clones.

"This is boring, let's get out of here." Hideaki spoke up, chewing a a weed he had picked from the ground while watching the clouds. He glanced languidly over to Tana who continued to watch their silver-haired teammate with great interest and a slight scowl on her face. "If you keep scowling so much your face will be stuck like that forever."

Her face immediately relaxed and she turned to him, sticking out her tongue.

Hideaki laughed once to himself. "Common, lets go," he pushed himself up into a squatting position, looking to Tana expectantly.

Tana shook her head, looking towards Kakashi and his clones. "I want to figure out what he's doing with those leaves."

"It doesn't matter; we're not learning anything by watching. I'm going home." He stood, sticking his hands in his pockets and walking back towards Konoha.

Tana sighed, finally releasing her kekkai genkai. "Wait!" She called after him.

Hideaki paused, turning and watching Tana run up to him. His eyes glanced up and for an instant met one of the Kakashi's eyes, locking for several seconds, before Kakashi looked away, focusing again on his leaf. Hideaki squinted, his eyes lingering on the younger boy for a moment longer before he looked back to Tana.

She smiled and they walked back together.


	14. Inner Turmoil

**When Time Stops  
**Chapter 14: _Inner Turmoil_

Naruto ducked under the entrance to his favorite restaurant, stopping short upon seeing the silver-haired boy he had grown fond of, more than simply a sensei-student type of fondness, but more so as a younger sibling for whom he was responsible. "Oh, Kashi, you're here already." Naruto greeted with a smile as he plopped down next to the boy, ruffling his hair in the process, half startling Kakashi.

"Hn," Kakashi replied evenly, not even glancing at his brother and brushing down his already unruly hair in annoyance.

Naruto frowned, looking over Kakashi's pouting features (they were half way covered, hard to discern beneath the cloth mask Kakashi wore over his face). "You're not still mad at me about this morning, are you?"

Kakashi glanced up at his brother, eyes studying the concern in his older brother's happy blue eyes. He wondered if he should tell the blond how he really felt about being ditched, how if made him angry and how he felt slighted and unimportant. No, he decided finally, turning away from his brother and watching the workings of the ramen cooks, he couldn't hurt his brother by sharing his anger. Naruto was only following his own dream, after all. Kakashi was sure that raising some orphan kid wasn't nearly as important as Hokage training.

"Naruto-sensei!" Tana greeted as she entered the small shop, smiling and sitting down next to Kakashi.

Naruto watched the little bit of emotion that had played out over Kakashi's face disappear as he turned away. He deflated a little bit, but covered it up, smiling at Tana, "Hello, glad you could make it, Tana."

She looked around, as if in awe at such a small, average looking place, "I wouldn't miss my first team dinner. I wasn't sure where this place was, but my father knew exactly where it was. He said you eat here all the time."

Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Nothing can beat Ichiraku Ramen!"

Tana laughed, looking from her sensei to her quiet, silver-haired teammate. "So, how did your training go today, Kakashi?"

Kakashi cast a sidelong glance at her, but otherwise ignored her.

"Don't mind him," Naruto rubbed the top of Kakashi's head, messing up his hair yet again, "Kakashi's in a bad mood."

"Am I the last one here? I'm five minutes early!" Hideaki cried upon entering the small restaurant. He grumbled under his breath, something about being stuck with overachievers, as he sat down next to Tana.

"Great, you're all here!" Naruto waved down the old man that he had known since childhood. "Hey, Old Man!"

Hideaki snickered at his teachers lack of respect towards the elderly man while Tana's face showed her surprise.

"Oh, Naruto! I was wondering when I'd see you again." He smiled, leaving the bowl he was cooking to greet the blond. "Kakashi-kun, it's nice to see you today."

Kakashi smiled under his mask, unperceptible to the others, "You as well, Old Man."

As if suddenly noticing the other two kids, the old man smiled at Tana and Hideaki. "I see you finally got the rest of your team. Is that time of year already?"

Naruto laughed, "It sure is, this is Tana and Hideaki. We're here to celebrate - my treat!"

The old man nodded, "Great! I'll get your food started."

Naruto turned to his genin after the old man had left.

"Naruto-sensei, what's our test going to be like tomorrow?" Tana leaned forward to see past Kakashi, asking the question the all inwardly wondered.

Naruto swatted away the question with an exaggerated motion, "Oh that? Don't worry about that. Its just standard procedure that the genin sensei test his new genin to make sure they didn't slip through the cracks and graduate the academy without knowing the basics. I'm sure all of you will do just fine."

"But, what will we be doing?" Hideaki butt in.

"It's a secret." Naruto smiled, taking in his students curious expressions - even Kakashi's. He sobered suddenly, his sudden mood change captivating the attention of his three students, as the old man returned with their food, setting the bowls in front of each of them. "However," Naruto started, grabbing a set of chopsticks and breaking them apart as he examined his delicious bowl of steaming ramen. His students eyes remained fixed on him, even though the steam from their food drifted up slowly in front of their faces. "My sensei gave me the same exact test. He warned me and my teammates against eating dinner or breakfast before, but I did anyways. No lie, I must have thrown up for a weak. I would advise you three to not eat dinner or breakfast too, I wouldn't want you to end up like me."

Tana's eyes widened and her stomach dropped. She hadn't realized that her happy-go-lucky sensei was such a hard-ass when it came to training. She eyed the steaming bowl of ramen in front of her longingly, but grimaced thinking about working so hard the next day that it would make her sick.

Kakashi eyed his older brother speculatively, knowing that the blond couldn't help himself from a good prank. "You're saying that if we eat between now and the test, then we're going to get sick?"

Naruto nodded, loudly slurping up his noodles.

Hideaki gulped loudly and pushed his bowl away.

A smile grew on Kakashi's lips, growing so big that he was sure others could see it through his mask. He fidgeted, barely able to contain his excitement. "Finally, I'll get some real training for once."

Naruto chuckled at Kakashi's reaction compared to Tana and Hideaki's scared and tense reactions.

"So, I guess none of you are going to eat your ramen?" Naruto asked, eying their bowls, to which they all shook their heads. "Great! More for me!" The blond smiled cheekily, reaching past the three and pulling their bowls towards himself.

Kakashi shook his head, sighing audibly at his brother's childish tactics. He turned and hopped of the stood.

"Whergh ah uuh goringh?" Naruto mumbled behind a mouthful of noodles.

"Home." He replied evenly, before ducking under the entrance and starting off down the road.

"What's his problem?" Tana asked, frowning as she watcher her teammate leave.

Naruto shrugged. He swallowed his mouthful, "He's just like that; say, why don't you guys tell me about yourselves. You guys know each other from the academy, but I don't know you." He gave them his best smile, slurping up another mouthful of noodles, all the while casually watching them. He had learned from years of experience that he could learn more by watching than he could by listening, especially when no one thought he was really paying attention.

Hideaki watched his bowl of ramen be demolished as his stomach growled loudly, "What do you want to know?"

"I don't know," the blond replied, "Your likes, dislikes, your goals for the future, stuff like that."

"Hm," Tana started, "well, I am in the second branch of the Hyuuga family, I like to tend to the garden with my mother. As for things that I don't like...people who look down on others for no reason." She shot an accusing glare towards HIdeaki who ignored her accusation. "My goal for the future is," she knit her brow in thought, pausing in her speach for several long seconds. "I don't really have one, I guess."

"That's no good, goals make us stronger; they give us something to work hard toward and to get stronger for." Naruto explained earnestly.

Tana nodded, her eyes showing her thoughtfulness.

"What about you, Hideaki?" Naruto turned towards the redhead expectantly.

"Well, I like a good story." Hideaki started with a smile, "My dad always tells me I should become a storyteller instead of a ninja. I'm the first person in my family to become a ninja, you know; my mum hates the fact that I'll be in danger all the time. I hate vegetables and reading - oh and dogs too, yuck!" He suppressed a shiver. "My goal is to become one of the strongest ninja and kick butt on S-ranked missions!" Hideaki grinned from ear to ear, showing off his bicep to Tana and his sensei.

Naruto smiled, the boy reminding him of his own eagerness and determination as a new genin.

"What about you, sensei?" Tana asked politely, watching him for an answer.

Naruto looked to Tana, half surprised as being questioned back. "I like ramen and training. I hate people who treat their teammates like dirt. My goals for the future are to become Hokage and..." he trailed off, thinking about Kakashi and the time ninja who had taken him not so very long ago. The looming threat of the Time nin's eminent returned cast a dark shadow on his thoughts.

"Sensei?" Tana spoke up when the blond had grown quiet and distant, "What's your second goal?"

Naruto eye-smiled, forcing away dark thoughts, "My other goal is to make sure my brother grows up well."

* * *

Kakashi leaned against the tree on their training field, the tree under which he and Naruto always trained beneath. He had woken up early, as was his usual schedule, to complete his ritualistic morning run around the training field. Naruto,surprisingly enough, was already gone by the time he had left the house, before even the sun had come up. Now, he waited patiently, head resting on the trunk and watching the orange-pink clouds travel across his field of vision as the sky turned from black to pink. He always enjoyed the early mornings, when the only other things awake were the birds, softly singing awake their surroundings. It was a time for him to clear his thoughts and clear his mind from his dreams, which he seemed to be having more and more often as of late.

"Kakashi-kun!"

The voice broke through the peaceful quiet of the morning air and pulled Kakashi out of his thoughts. He lifted his head, lazily looking towards the small dirt path that led back to Konoha. He found Tana there, jogging towards him and waving.

"Good morning," Kakashi greeted politely when she had come close enough to talk at a normal level.

"Good morning!" She smiled, tucking a loose strand of black silky hair behind her ear. "You're here early, Kakashi." She commented, looking around at the empty training field, grass still wet with dew, a light mist still lingering in the empty space, held in by the surrounding fence of dense forest.

Kakashi shrugged, "So are you."

"Well," She started eagerly, "I wanted to get here early, just in case Naruto-sensei started earlier than he said. Iruka-sensei always gave extra information before class-well, you know, he was your teacher too."

"Naruto isn't like that." Kakashi stated bluntly, staring straight down at the gravel under his feet. "He's not really reliable at all, actually."

Tana frowned, "That's a terrible thing to say about your sensei." She paused, watching Kakashi's emotionless face stare down at nothing. "He must be reliable in some way if he was assigned a genin team. Surely the Hokage wouldn't give us an unreliable teacher. Besides, my father knows Naruto-sensei and says that he is a really great ninja and that I'm lucky to have him as my sensei."

Kakashi glanced at Tana momentarily before looking away towards the other side of the field, merely shrugging in response.

Silence fell over them, making Tana shift uncomfortably, if only due do Kakashi's lack of sociableness. "So, I'm pretty nervous about this test," Tana admitted, hoping she could draw Kakashi into conversation to help pass the time. "You've gone on missions and trained and had time to get to know how things go, but it's my first day as a genin and I'm not really sure what to expect." She paused, watching her younger teammate who hardly bothered to blink in her direction." Naruto-sensei seems really nice, though, so I'm sure he'll go easy on us for our first day."

Kakashi snorted unintentionally, amused at the thought of his brother going easy on any of them while on the training field.

"What?" Tana scowled, looking skeptically at Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed, shaking his head, annoyed that he had to explain it to anyone, even a first day genin. "Naruto's job is to prepare us for actual combat, where our training isis training for a life or death situation, not coddle us and hold our hands. If that's what you're hoping for, then you should turn around and walk straight back to the academy."

Tana nearly took a step back at Kakashi emotionless and harsh words. She had never had the opportunity to talk to Kakashi before, though she had seen him occasionally her first year at the academy. His personality and harshness surprised her. He was like sandpaper, scraping against all whom he came into contact with, keeping a solid distance between himself and those around him. She had grown up, as a member of the Hyuuga family, in a world where learning social cues and being able to read a person's thoughts and intentions were as important, if not more so, than sharpening your fighting skills. Kakashi, she could tell, was someone who had his own thoughts and opinions, which he held as inevitably true. It seemed that, for the few times she had talked to Kakashi, he was actually quite a lonely person, searching for the right path in the world and striving to be the best that he could be.

"Again?!"

The sharp cry caught Tana and Kakashi's attention, both turning to see Hideaki walking towards them.

"What's a guy have to do around here to not me the last person to arrive?" The redhead complained, stopping in front of his new teammates and looking at them expectantly.

"I guess you'll have to wake up even earlier if you want to beat us here." Tana joked, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Yea, well," Hideaki started, looking around the clearing for their sensei, "I couldn't get to sleep on and empty stomach." He held his hand against his growling, complaining stomach. "I'm just ready to get this over thing over with so I can eat lunch! Where is Naruto-sensei, anyways?"

"Well," Tana supplied when Kakashi didn't answer, "Kakashi-kun said that Naruto-sensei would probably be late..."

"Kakashi! How dare you slander my name after all our time together?" A voice spoke suddenly from above them.

Kakashi could only roll his eyes, recognizing the joking tone in his brother's voice.

Tana and Hideaki looked up in surprise, not knowing that the blond had shown up, squatting on the tree branch above them.

"Yo!" He grinned and gave them a wave, his blond hair glowing in the orange-yellow light as it moved softly in the light morning breeze.

"Sensei!" Tana gasped, feeling a blush flush her cheeks. "I-I didn't mean to-"

"Oh, don't worry about that." Naruto leapt down, gracefully flipping and landing in front of the three. "Are you all ready to begin your test?"

"What IS our test, Sensei?" Hideaki questioned.

Naruto smiled and reached into his pouch, pulling out two small silver bells tied to strings.

"Bells?" Tana asked, wondering what on earth they could be tested on using only bells.

"Yup!" The bells jingled a bit, "Your test will be to take these bells from me." Naruto tied the bells to his belt loop as he explained.

"There are only two bells," Kakashi voiced. It was a statement, not a question.

Tana gasped and Hideaki's eye's grew wide, having just noticed the fact.

"Correct, Kakashi." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, hoping he looked as serious and intimidating as Kakashi had years ago when they were genin. "Only two of you will remain genin by the end of the day. The one who doesn't get a bell will be sent back to the academy to retake another year."

"What?! You can't do that!" HIdeaki yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the blond.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Watch me. I'm the top ranked jounin in Konoha; if I say that any one of you are not ready to be genin, the Hokage is going to listen."

"But-" Hideaki's words fell away, a look of worry and apprehension washing over him.

Kakashi pushed of the tree trunk finally, staring his sensei in the eyes. "When do we start?" His eyes gleamed with excitement and Kakashi could feel all his muscles tense in excitement at the test he was about to take.

Naruto grinned. "Now," he said, vanishing with a flash of light before any of them could blink.

Kakashi took off, running at full speed towards the forest to hide and plan his attack. He knew it would be no easy task to get those bells from Naruto, especially with two clumsy genin who would, undoubtedly, get in his way.

Tana gasped at her teacher's unexpected disappearance and Kakashi's rapid departure, barely able to take it all in. She frantically looked around and ran towards some nearby brush, assuming that Kakashi knew a thing or two about fighting their sensei.

Hideaki watched his two teammates run and scoffed, "You cowards!" He smirked to himself, marching to the center of the field, "Naruto-sensei! Come out and fight me! Kakashi and Tana are too scared to face you head on, but I'm not! Show yourself!"

"He's just like you!" Sakura snickered, trying in vein to keep quiet. Sakura crouched with Naruto in the upper branches of a tree, watching Hideaki continue to taunt Naruto and threaten him from center field.

Naruto laughed embarrassedly, scratching the back of his head, "I wasn't that bad, was I?"

Sakura nodded, unable to control her laugher.

Naruto took a moment from watching Hideaki to glance at where he knew Kakashi to be, checking on the boy's progress. Kakashi had all the tools to capture the bells if he only used them properly. He wondered though, if Kakashi would figure out that he needed to use the help of his teammates in order to pass.

"Who do you think will get the bells?" Sakura questioned after she had calmed herself, watching the redhead plop down in the dirt and cross his arms stubbornly.

"I'm not too sure," Naruto replied, pulling out his special kunai and polishing it carefully with the end of his sleeve. "Kakashi is the strongest, but I'm betting that Tana and Hideaki will get lunch since they're more willing to work together." He paused for several long minutes, a wry grin growing on his face. "Hey, Sakura-chan, watch this!" He conjured a clone, which snuck of into the trees in the direction Tana had scrambled off to. Once his clone had left, he threw his kunai towards Hideaki. It landed less than a hands-width from the boy, Naruto appearing over the boy's shoulder. "Hideaki."

The redhead scrambled up to his feet. "Naruto-sensei!" the boy yelped, with wide, nearly terrified eyes.

Naruto leaned causally on one hip, staring down his genin with a doubtful, disappointed expression. "If I had been an enemy ninja, I could have killed you in an instant with that kunai. You didn't even jump out of the way."

Hideaki growled, "I'll show you! Prepare yourself!"

Naruto laughed mockingly, "Do you really think that you can beat me so easily by yourself?"

Hideaki rushed forward, jumping at his sensei.

The blond disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared, leaving Hideaki's punch to throw him off balance and teetering on one foot.

"You should never show your back to your opponent, Hideaki," Naruto spoke cooly from behind the boy.

"Huh?" Hideaki glanced behind him, barely registering his sensei crouching behind him when Naruto reached forward, hands forming a seal, and yelling, "One Thousand Years of Pain!"

Hideaki found himself flying through the air, screaming in pain and holding his butt.

Naruto started laughing, leaning forward to brace his hands on his knees, unable to hold himself up. "Now," he yelled back to where he had left Sakura, "he's just like me!"

Kakashi turned away from his hiding place behind a bush where he had watched Naruto humiliate Hideaki. He shook his head at the complete incompetence of his useless teammate. He jumped up to a branch, heading deeper into the forest so as to better hide himself and formulate a plan.

_Meanwhile..._

Tana scurried into some rather thick bushes, scraping dirt into her clothes and snagging her hair on a branch. She squeaked, carefully untangling herself from the foliage and worked to quiet her labored breathing. She honed in her hearing and listened to the sounds around her, alert for danger.

Suddenly she heard a scream, coming from somewhere off in the distance. She jumped, wondering if it had been Hideaki or Kakashi that had made the sound. "Byakugan," she said in a harsh whisper, activating her kekai genkai and peering towards where the scream had come from. In the center of the field stood her sensei, no one to be found near him. Tana frowned, curiously finding Naruto's chakra to be red, emitting a slightly feral aura around him, opposed to the normal blue chakra she was used to seeing in most ninja.

A twig snapped and she spun around, her byakugan slipping away without her focus. "W-who's there?" she called timidly, carefully parting the bush with her hands and peering out.

"Tana..." a voiced rasped as she set her eyes upon Kakashi, covered in dirt with numerous injuries staining his clothes with blood. Kakashi stumbled forward and fell against the trunk of a tree, holding the gash in his midsection, from which blood flowed freely, dripping in puddles to the ground. He coughed, doubling over, his navy mask slowly turning a deep blood red.

"Kakashi!" She yelled in worried fear, running forward to her teammate only to stop short when their sensei appeared behind Kakashi.

The blond reached forward, grabbing Kakashi's head. Kakashi had only a moment to show his shocked expression before Naruto sharply twisted Kakashi's head, snapping it from his shoulders. Kakashi fell to the ground limply.

Tana covered her mouth with her hand to hold back a scream and everything else her body wanted do dispel. Her wide eyes were glued to her teammate, laying motionless in a disfigured pile in the dirt.

"Run, Tana, you're next." Naruto spoke, watching Tana. He stepped forward, eyes squinting dangerously.

Tana took off, running mindlessly through the brush, her adrenaline pushing her ever faster. Her heart pounded as her feet thud through the forest, low hanging branches whipping her in the face. She looked over her shoulder, searching for any sign of her sensei. She bit down a scream as she fell forward, tripping on a loose rock. She hit the ground hard with a thud, the wind being knocked out of her. She groaned, holding the spot where her head had bashed against the ground, slowly pushing herself up to her hands and knees. She spit out blood that began to fill up her mouth.

"This can't be happening..." she said aloud to herself. "Naruto-sensei is crazy! I've got to find Hideaki and warn him." She activated her byakugan and searched the surrounding forest. Nowhere in her immediate surroundings could she find her sensei, meaning she was in the clear for the moment. She focused her eyesight, peering further through the forest in search of Hideaki.

She found him not far away, progressing slowly into the forest.

She quickly wove through the forest, catching up with him after only a short time. "Hideaki!" She whispered harshly as she made her way to him, panting and swiping bloody sweat from her forehead.

Hideaki spun, fists up in a defensive stance, to find Tana. "What happened to you?" He asked, taking in her dirty, rustled appearance with surprise.

"It was Naruto-sensei," she gasped, catching her breath, "He-he killed Kakashi."

"What?!" Hideaki's eyes grew wide and he nervously glanced around them.

Tana nodded, "We can't beat him by fighting him individually, we're going to have to work together if we have any chance of getting out of here alive."

Hideaki nodded, features tense, "Right, we'd better keep moving while we come up with a plan, then."

Tana nodded, following him as they continued through the forest.

_Meanwhile..._

Kakashi crouched low on the branch he had jumped to. He carefully peered around the forest, scanning for some sign of his enemy. He had heard them, could smell their scent nearby. A rustle in the trees caught his attention. They were watching him, he was sure. They had been following him and his team for days, relentlessly chasing after them for miles without sleep. Even though his body was screaming at him to rest, his adrenaline heightened his hearing and sharpened his eyes. He, Rin, Obito, and their sensei had gotten separated. One had followed Rin and Obito, another two gone after his sensei, and one was currently tailing him. He glanced around the forest, making sure not to miss anything in his sleep deprived state. He quickly sift through his pouch, feeling for something that would give him an advantage. He only had wire and a few explosive tags. It would have to do, though, he could make a decent trap with the items. He glanced at the trees, sleep-deprived paranoia getting the best of him, and jumped to the next tree in the forest in search of the perfect location. Once he had finally come upon a suitable location and set his trap, he moved downwind, hiding himself and making sure to cover his tracks, all the while keeping his eye on the clearing below. He turned suddenly, noticing a presence appear nearby.

"That's quite a trap you've come up with, Kakashi-kun." A familial blond voiced.

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder, noting the way his teacher's blond hair glowed in the sun, which danced through the forest canopy, and his blue eyes which sparkled as he leaned casually against a tree.

"Sensei, you found me," Kakashi replied, turning back to watching the clearing for the enemy nin in preparation to set off his trap.

"Of course," his sensei laugh, amused, "You'll have to set a better trap than that to catch me."

"I know that," Kakashi pulled out a kunai from his holster, readying himself, "Of course a jounin like you wouldn't fall for a trap like this, but they're not jounin - high chunin at the very most."

His sensei frowned, his amused features fading away, "Them?"

"You defeated the two following you fairly quickly, not that I'm surprised. You should go help Rin and Obito, I'm fine."

"Kakashi?" his sensei called, stepping forward in worry.

"Shh! They're here." Kakashi narrowed his eyes as the enemy, a dark haired female, walked into range of his trapped, a second ninja, a red-haired male, following some paces behind her. "Bingo," Kakashi voiced with a deadly edge, throwing his kunai at the nearly invisible wire that, when cut, would trigger his trap.

"Watch out!" His sensei called, eyes wide as the kunai left Kakashi's hand.

Kakashi turned to his sensei, furious that the man had had ruined his trap, only to find that Minato had vanished.

An explosion shook the forest, scaring the birds and animals. The clearing where his trap had detonated was covered in a veil of thick smoke and debris, making it difficult for him to ascertain if he had been able to hit his targets.

**Authors Notes:  
**Woo, cliff hanger! Sorry to all who thought my last post was a new chapter! D: Anyways, I hope this chapter made up for that! I loved the end of this chapter; I have all the feels writing/watching Kakashi mix up the past and present so completely and without knowing that he is doing so DDDDD; DAMN TIME NINJA FOR MAKING HIS LIFE EVEN HARDER!

Anyways, if you didn't see the Author's Note Chapter, I've been updating the earlier chapters (revising, rewriting and editing). There are some major scene changes that have been made, though I tried not to mess with the main plot too much so as not to confuse everyone. Go back and read if you feel like it and tell me what you think of the changes :)

**_Edited Chapters:  
_**CH 1: 05/16/13  
CH 2: 05/18/13

**_When Time Stops Artwork:_**

anna-mae , deviant Art .c 0 m /gallery/43853406

_NEW_ anna-mae , deviant Art .c 0 m /art/Bed-Time-374539226  
_NEW_ anna-mae , deviant Art .c 0 m /art/Father-and-Son-Bonding-353158528  
Kakashi with baby Naruto, the juxtoposition is too heartwrenching and adorable. Don't forget Yamato. They are my ultimate OTF!3 (one true family)


	15. Underneath the Underneath

**When Time Stops**  
Chapter 15: _Underneath the Underneath_

"What out!" Naruto yelled to his two unsuspecting genin below, eyes widening as the kunai left Kakashi's fingers as if time had slowed down all around him. His body started moving without conscious thought, forming seals and appearing in the clearing just as Kakashi's kunai sliced the nearly invisible wire connected to the explosive tags set. Tana's eyes widened in surprise and Naruto jumped towards her, wrapping himself around her as the tags exploded just behind him. The earth shook, a force of smoke and debris, throwing them forward. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Hideaki several meters away, tossed roughly against a tree from the force of the blast. Naruto pushed up to his elbow, coughing and spitting up blood as the dust began to clear.

"Sensei," Tana gasped, eyes wide and horrified as she spotted the large tree limb protruding from Naruto's shoulder. Tana mouthed voiceless words, shock preventing her from doing anything.

Kakashi jumped down to the clearing, landing in a crouch amongst the rubble and smoke. He stopped suddenly, fear quenching his gut as his eyes fell upon his blond-haired sensei. "Minato-sensei!" He yelled, rushing forward, skidding on his knees to Naruto's side. Kakashi reached forward, but his hands stopped, hovering above Naruto's injuries, taking in the sight.

Naruto peered up behind the long strands of hair covering his face, blood dribbling from his mouth.

"They did this to you..." Kakashi nearly whispered, body shaking in anger. He spun on his heel to the enemy nin, who lay on the ground smirking at him. "I'll kill you!" he growled, rushing forwards and grabbing the girl by the throat.

She gasped, clawing at his hand and feet kicking as Kakashi lifted her above his head.

"Kakashi, stop!" Naruto yelled, coughing and trying to push himself up, cursing when his arm refused to listen to him. He reached with his good arm and grabbed the branch, pulling it out of his shoulder with a yell.

"Hey, Shrimp!" Hideaki yelled, throwing a kunai at Kakashi's arm. Kakashi jumped back, releasing Tana, who fell to her knees panting and coughing. Kakashi pulled out a kunai, simultaneously sprinting head on towards Hideaki. Hideaki back-peddled, suddenly fearful for his own life as the brunt force of Kakashi's strength came barreling towards him. He fumbled with his pouch, trying to draw a weapon of his own.

"KASHI!" Naruto screamed in a final attempt to pull Kakashi from whatever was causing him to attack his teammates.

Kakashi stopped suddenly, kunai inches away from Hideaki's throat as his world suddenly changed before his eyes.

Hideaki stared wide-eyed at his teammate, neither of them breathing. The red-head carefully looked down to the kunai Kakashi still held, frozen at his neck, the younger boy staring at him, unmoving. "Get that thing away from me, you psychopath!" Hideaki yelled, swatting the weapon out of Kakashi's hand and to the ground.

Kakashi stared down at his shaking hands as the kunai clamored against the ground, not hearing or seeing whatever was happening around him. He turned slowly, looking back at his sensei, Naruto, kneeling on the ground and clutching his gaping, bloody wound.

"Nii-san..." Kakashi breathed, unable to comprehend that he had done all of this to his teammates - to his brother.

"Kakashi, what happened?" Naruto demanded, grinding his teeth from the pain.

"I...I don't..." Kakashi stammered, glancing to Tana who holding her neck and coughing on the ground.

"Tana!" Hideaki called to their teammate, running to her side and helping her to stand up.

Naruto stood, walking over to Tana to make sure both she and Hideaki were okay. "Let's head back to the field." Naruto walked with them to the edge of the clearing before he stopped, noticing that only two of his genin were with him. He stopped and looked back, finding Kakashi frozen in shock, unmoving from the place he had been. "Kakashi," he called, noticing the boy's wet looking eyes drift towards him, "Are you alright? Come on."

Kakashi stepped forward, following his brother and teammates back through the forest, not entirely conscious of where he was going.

As they stepped out of the edge of the forest onto the training field, they saw Sakura already running towards them.

"What happened?" Sakura yelled, stopping in front of them, taking in the injuries they had and, in Kakashi's case, didn't have. "I heard an explosion."

"There was a little bit of confusion." Naruto said mysteriously, earning him a strange look from Sakura. He motioned towards Tana with his chin, "Could you check on her injuries?"

Sakura nodded, lips pursed and eyeing the bloody patch on Naruto's shoulder that he was holding.

Sakura took Hideaki's place, putting her arm around Tana, "Let's go sit by the tree and I'll have a look, okay?"

Hideaki stopped walking, turning to stare down Kakashi. "What the hell was that, Kakashi?!" He yelled, causing everyone to stop and look.

Kakashi lifted his eyes from watching his feet move forward of their own accord, meeting unseeing eyes with Hideaki's accusing green ones.

Naruto stepped in quickly, stepping towards Hideaki and setting his good hand on the boy's shoulder, as if to hold him in place. "Leave him alone, Hideaki."

Hideaki ripped his shoulder away from Naruto's touch, pinning the blond with his piercing green eyes. "No, I won't! Your precious little student nearly killed all of us - multiple times! - and you're not doing shit about it!"

"I said, that's enough!" Naruto yelled, sobering the boy and startling all of them with his ferocity and seriousness.

"Naruto..." Sakura spoke up softly, worried for what Naruto might be feeling and wondering what exactly happened in that forest.

Naruto looked towards his long time friend, softening has he met eyes with her. Somehow, over the years, she had become his pillar of support and the force of reason in his life. The blond looked back to Hideaki, who had already turned and was walking towards the other side of the field.

They stopped under the tree and Tana sat down, her back against the trunk. Sakura knelt next to her and quickly started healing the bruising around Tana's neck. Hideaki watched, scowling all the while, arms crossed. Kakashi stood a few feet away, silently watching and lost in his own thoughts.

Naruto sat down with a grunt, lifting his hand to take a look at his bloody wound. He grimaced, feeling the pain from the wound start to creep across his chest and arm as his adrenaline faded.

"Sensei..." Kakashi muttered softly, worry on his face.

Naruto glanced at Kakashi. His young sensei had been quiet and distant since the accident in the forest and Naruto could tell that the boy was quite confused and distraught over what he had done. Naruto smiled, "Grab me some gauze will you?"

Kakashi nodded, frowning in seriousness. He walked to Sakura's med kit, which she had lain out on the ground, and pulled out several packs of fresh gauze. He stepped towards his brother, crouching in front of the blond and opening the first pack. He looked up to his brother's sky colored eyes and Naruto nodded once, smiling. Kakashi carefully pulled back the cloth around the wound, dabbing the gauze gently against the wound and holding it there to stop the bleeding. "Nii-san," Kakashi said quietly so that only the two of them could hear, "I'm really sorry...I don't know what I was thinking." Kakashi worked, not looking into Naruto's eyes, his own features furrowed and troubled.

Naruto laughed once, reaching his good hand to Kakashi's hair, ruffling it fondly, some blood from Naruto's hand staining his silver locks, "It really was a good trap. I was quite surprised, since I haven't really taught you much about traps. Where did you learn it from?"

Kakashi allowed himself a smile, one only Naruto could see through his mask, and shrugged, "I just thought of it."

"Naruto," Sakura called from above them.

The two boy's looked up from their conversation with each other to the pink-haired kunoich standing over them.

"Let me heal your wound now before you loose too much blood." She ordered, kneeling down next to Kakashi.

"Hai, hai!" Naruto replied cheerfully.

Sakura activated her healing chakra, placing one hand on the front and back of the wound, eyebrows knit in focus at the task.

"Say, Naruto-sensei," Tana spoke up from her spot against the tree trunk, her voice somewhat rough. Sakura had stopped the bruising and swelling of her neck, though a red hand mark and some surface bruising still remained, evidence of the recent attack by her teammate."What happens since none of us got a bell?" She coughed into her fist.

Hideaki perked up at the question, as did Kakashi, who had forgotten entirely about the test.

"Well," Naruto drawled, "Due to the interruption, none of you passed."

Looks of worry and apprehension painted the faces of his students and they looked at him expectantly.

"We'll take a break for lunch and afterwards I'll give you three a second chance to redeem yourselves."

The tension emanating from the three genin washed away with Naruto's words.

"I can't quite heal it." Sakura said suddenly, as if she had not been listening to Naruto's conversation with the genin. "We'll have to go to the hospital to I can finish healing your wound, Naruto."

Naruto huffed as she released her healing chakra. She grabbed his good hand and pulled him to his feet. Naruto squeezed his eye shut as a bit of pain jolted down his arm at the slight jostling. Naruto used his good hand to make a one handed seal as Sakura grabbed her medical supplies. A single clone popped into the air with a burst of smoke, standing int the midst of the group. The clone preformed a set of seals without instruction and disappeared a second later.

"Right then," Naruto said, holding his injured shoulder protectively, "We'll be back soon, enjoy lunch." The blond walked with Sakura slowly down the path back to Konoha.

The three sat in silence for a while, tension thick in the air.

A while later, Naruto's clone appeared once again in front of them, holding two bentos. "Who's hungry?" The blond smiled, holding the lunches up.

"Only two?" Hideaki questioned with alarm.

Naruto nodded, "Today's test was not really about getting the bells, but about using teamwork to defeat someone much stronger than any one of you. Hideaki, you showed good teamwork when you threw that kunai to separate Kakashi from Tana." Naruto gave Hideaki one bento.

Hideaki beamed at the box, his stomach growling as the smells hit him.

"Tana, you showed great teamwork when, after thinking that Kakashi had died, you ran to Hideaki and decided to work together to survive." The blond handed the box to her.

Tana smiled, proud that she had done something right.

Naruto turned to Kakashi, locking eyes with his young sensei's hard grey orbs. "Kakashi, you failed at working as a team, even before you attacked your teammates, so you will not get lunch. Instead, you will be tied to this tree while Tana and Hideaki eat."

Kakashi frowned as Naruto stepped towards him, guiding him until his back was against the tree and wrapped a rope around him and the trunk several times, tying it in a tight knot.

Naruto brushed off his hands, examining his handiwork and trying not to smile at the scene. "Now, eat up, you two, the second test will be even harder than the first one and you'll need your energy. And, under no circumstances are you to share your meal with Kakashi, understood? If you do, I will send all three of you back to the academy."

Tana and Hideaki silently nodded.

"Good!" The Naruto-clone waved once before disappearing with a pop of smoke.

"Whew!" Hideaki howled, plopping down where he was next to the tree and tearing open his bento. "I sure am hungry! I never thought I'd eat again!"

Tana smiled tentatively as she watched Hideaki, her eyes glancing up to Kakashi before looking down at her own bento, carefully unwrapping it.

Kakashi tried to keep himself looking straight ahead, but couldn't help glancing at the food as the two opened their boxes, the smell making his stomach growl loudly. He was sure his teammates could hear his stomachs grumbling and was glad for his mask which covered up his flushed, embarrassed cheeks.

"Kya!" Hideaki voiced behind a mouthful of food, "This sure is good!"

Tana smiled in agreement, grimacing a bit when she noticed Kakashi's wistful, nearly pained expression as he looked at Hideaki's food. "Hideaki..." She called tentatively.

The redhead looked up, rice stuck to the side of his cheek.

Tana motioned to her tied up teammate, "It's bad enough for Kakashi that he has to watch us eat, you can at least be quiet about it."

Kakashi frowned, looking away from the two.

Hideaki raised an eyebrow, looking to Kakashi with a scowl. "I don't give two shits about that Tana, that bastard deserves it for what he did."

Tana looked down, moving around some food in her bento. Sure, Kakashi had attacked them, but she didn't see why Kakashi would intentionally try to harm them. Besides, Kakashi seemed to be quite upset since that time. She picked up a bite of rice, raising it to her mouth, but stopped midway. Somehow she didn't feel right eating while Kakashi had to suffer without anything. She held the bite of food up, looking at Kakashi with a warm smile. "Here, Kakashi, you should have some too."

Kakashi stared at Tana with wide eyes, glancing to the bite, his mouth watering at the temptation.

"Tana, no!" Hideaki hollered, reaching out. "If you feed him, we'll all fail."

"He's right," Kakashi agreed, steeling himself.

"What if Naruto-sensei finds out?!" Hideaki yelled angrily.

"He won't," Tana replied evenly, setting down her bento and reaching to Kakashi's mask to pull it down.

Kakashi tensed, uncomfortable at the close proximity and the thought of his misk coming off. He squirmmed nervously, glancing longingly at the food. "Nevermind, I don't want it." Kakashi said as Tana's fingers brushed against his skin. He pulled his face away, turning his head.

Tana frowned in confusion, pulling her hand back, surprised that Kakashi would even refuse food so that he could hide his face. "Kakashi-kun, don't be stubborn, you'll need your energy too to pass the final test."

Kakashi frowned at her, "I'll manage."

"If he doesn't want to eat, he doesn't want to eat, Tana; you don't have to force the shrimp. Besides," Hideaki commented behind a mouthful of food, "the weaker he is, the better chance you and I have of passing."

Kakashi scowled at the redhead, obnoxious chewing and spitting food as he spoke. He turned back to Tana, glancing from her to the bite of food. His stomach rumbled through his torso and his resolve broke, his shoulders slumping ever so slightly. "Fine..." he finally muttered softly.

Tana smiled, carefully reaching up to grab his mask. She paused when he flinched as her fingers came in contact with his skin. She pinched the fabric between her fingers, slowly sliding it down over his nose, and over his delicate, soft pink lips. She felt her face grow warm and she hoped Kakashi didn't notice the fact that her cheeks had grown a little flushed. She pulled the mask over his chin, revealing the last part of his face. She had wondered why he wore a mask, if there was some scar or birth defect he was trying to cover up. It turned out that Kakashi was actually pretty cute underneath his mask, his cheeks still round with baby fat. Her face flushed hotly as she thought about it. "Here," she said quickly, forcing the embarrassing thoughts away. Kakashi opened his delicate little lips, allowing Tana to place the bite of food in his mouth.

Kakashi smiled a bit as he chewed the bite, the corner of his mouth pulling up.

Tana smiled too, taking a bite herself before feeding him another bite.

Hideaki huffed. "Tana, wait..." he said finally, "You shouldn't have to give up all of your food." He reluctantly held up a bite of his own food to Kakashi's face.

Kakashi frowned, staring at the redhead, his ego fighting him to not accept food from Hideaki. His stomach grumbled loudly, traveling through his entire body. He craned his neck, reluctantly taking the food offered.

Tana smiled at the two finally getting along, albeit begrudgingly.

Suddenly, Naruto appeared in front of them, looking angry with a threatening aura rolling off of him.

Tana squeaked, and Hideaki stiffened, pulling his chopsticks back as if that would change the fact that he had fed Kakashi, while Kakashi's eyes widened.

"What did I say about feeding Kakashi?" Naruto demanded, leaning forward and staring them down. His arm had been bandaged and was hanging in a sling across his chest while his other hand rested on his hip.

"W-we're sorry, Naruto-sensei..." Tana mustered, feeling guilty for causing the group to get in trouble. She felt like she might cry for the horrible thing she had done.

"Yea!" Hideaki agreed energetically, "Please don't send us back to the academy!"

Naruto was silent for an eternally long minute, staring down the three. Suddenly he smiled, his eyes curving upward. "Congratulations! You passed!"

* * *

Several loud bangs on the wooden door broke Naruto and Kakashi from their respective studies in the living room. They looked to the door, wondering who would be knocking so aggressively at such a late hour. "I'll get it," Naruto spoke up as set the scroll aside that he had been reading on his lap. He awkwardly stood, stepping out of his ring of books, scrolls, and notes. Kakashi watched his brother walk across the creaky wooden floor, opening the door.

"Neji?" Naruto questioned upon opening the door to his long time friend.

Neji glared at the blond, examining his bandaged arm, his own arms crossed within the sleeves of his formal robes. Several moments of silence lingered between them before Neji spoke. "My Tana said that there was an accident during training today?" The older man spoke in a dangerously serious tone, eyes never leaving Naruto's.

"Oh, that!" Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head and hoping Neji wouldn't make such a big deal about it in front of Kakashi. "Yea, just a little mix up, nothing to worry about!"

Neji stepped forward, hand reaching out and grabbing Naruto's shirt collar, pulling him in so that they were face to face.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at the aggressiveness, not expecting such a thing from Neji.

Kakashi shuffled, seeing the commotion at the door and stood, quietly walking towards the door, stopping several feet behind his brother and peering around him.

"Neji, what are you-" Naruto started, but was cut off when Neji pulled him even closer.

"Tana's neck says that it was more than just 'a little mix up'." Neji growled into Naruto's face.

Naruto frowned, growing serious.

"She said that Kakashi tried to kill her and her other teammate."

Naruto stared at his friend, angered that Neji was overreacting so much, especially in front of Kakashi, about this.

"I said," Naruto growled, ripping Neji's hand off of his shirt, "that there is nothing to worry about; it won't happen again."

Neji snorted, tucking his arms back into his sleeves and calming himself. "I should hope that it doesn't, as I will hold you personally responsible and have Kakashi reported." Neji turned, starting down the road, but stopped after only a step. He looked over his shoulder, calling back to the blond, knowing full-well that Kakashi could hear him. "Putting your life on the line to fight enemy ninja is one thing, but being in danger from your own teammate is an entirely different issue." Before anything else could be said he continued walking, disappearing in the darkness.

Naruto watched his long time friend go, silently closing the door. He turned slowly to where he knew Kakashi had been standing. When his eyes fell upon his young sensei, he had to keep himself from rushing forward and hugging the boy. Kakashi wasn't one to show his emotions, he tried very hard to always mask his emotions and live by the ninja code, but in this moment, no matter how hard he tried, Naruto could see the guilt painted over Kakashi's face and how deeply Neji's words had cut him. After several moments of looking at each other in silence, Naruto reached forward tentatively. "Kashi-" he started, but stopped when Kakashi turned suddenly and walked back to the couch, opening his book and retreating behind its walls.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Some of you had some really great comments regarding the past few chapters! It makes me eternally happy to read them and see just how much you're thinking through the story with me and how you feel about the events that take place~!

I don't want to try to explain everything that happens in the story as I'm writing it but some of you have mentioned or questioned if Kakashi's memories are starting to come back. At this point in time, Kakashi's memories are coming back more than ever (remember that he only remembers what he would've remember at the same age in his previous life, so only up to about 10 years of age) since the Time nin captured him a while back and revised their jutsu. So hopefully you will see that some things Kakashi just 'knows' because he's already learned it in a different life, making him seem to become stronger that much fast since he is taking in twice as much information as the other genin. Also, I'm terribly sorry for Neji's actions (for Neji lovers) I just couldn't help myself with a protective daddy!Neji D:

On another note, I'm sure some of you have taken a look at some of my artwork about the story. Well I've been tossing around the idea for a while now and I just cant seem to shake the idea of turning this story into a comic and/or animation (more likely the first than the second). I have a hard time describing the scenes I see in my head and I feel like the story might read even better if I tried putting what I saw in my head into pictures instead of trying to translate it into english. IDK! I ramble. Would anyone even be interested in such a crazy thing? Please, persuade me not to hurry into such a big project! x3x

**_When Time Stops Artwork:_**

_NEW_ art! I've made a couple new pieces for your viewing pleasure :)) One is Kakashi with his new team and the other is a Kid!KakaxYama because they are my one true pairing and I've been thinking recently how sad Yamato would be now that Kakashi is a kid and doesnt remember him. As a warning I may not be able to keep myself from tucking that into this story just a bit! eue

anna-mae , deviant Art .c 0 m /gallery/43853406

Anyways, if you didn't see the Author's Note Chapter, I've been updating the earlier chapters (revising, rewriting and editing). There are some major scene changes that have been made, though I tried not to mess with the main plot too much so as not to confuse everyone. Go back and read if you feel like it and tell me what you think of the changes :)

**_Edited Chapters:  
_**CH 1: 05/16/13  
CH 2: 05/18/13


End file.
